Rabat – US top adviser Massad Boulos is in consistent talks with Algeria’s regime on Western Sahara, pushing forward US pledges to facilitate negotiations between parties to the dispute.
President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, received a phone call from Boulos on Saturday, the Algerian news agency, APS, has reported.
The press statement said Boulos conveyed to Tebboune and to the Algerian people his “best wishes” on Eid Al Fitr.
“During this phone exchange, they also discussed Algerian-American relations and reviewed the latest developments in the global situation,” the statement concluded.
While the statement has no reference to the Western Sahara, reports suggested the phone call also served as a platform to discuss the dispute.
The statement comes as Boulos continues his complex journey to convince Algeria’s regime to shoulder responsibility in the dispute.
In January, the US adviser visited Algeria and met with senior officials, including Tebboune.
He also met with Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Attaf.
In interviews over the past months, Boulos has stressed the US’s support for the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as the only feasible political solution to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
In a February interview with Deutsche Welle (DW), the American official dismantled Algeria’s “observer” claims in the Western Sahara dispute.
Despite hosting, financing, and arming the Polisario Front, Algeria’s regime continues to cling to its fictional “observer” status– a long-standing claim that Algiers upheld to avoid responsibility in the dispute while simultaneously undermining Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces.
On February 14, however, Boulos stressed Algeria’s role in the dispute in the DW interview, calling out the Algerian regime as a main party to the conflict.
He notably recalled UN Security Council Resolution 2797, adopted in October last year, describing it as an “important and historic decision.”
Boulos added that the resolution “clearly identifies the parties concerned: Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania- each involved to different degrees.”
The US has, in recent months, contributed to the UN-led political process by facilitating talks among the parties to the dispute.
In February, two meetings were held under American support. The first meeting took place in Madrid, and the second gathering was held in Washington.
Throughout the discussions and the ongoing process to review negotiations, the US continues to back the Autonomy Plan as the only feasible political solution to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
