Algeria reaffirms its role as observer in the Western Sahara conflict before De Mistura

This past Sunday, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, held a meeting in Algiers with Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy for Western Sahara. The meeting is part of the diplomatic efforts led by the United Nations to resolve the protracted conflict in the territory. 

During the meeting, Attaf reiterated Algeria's full support for the initiatives of the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, as well as for the work of his special envoy. In this regard, he underlined the need to reach a political solution that respects the Charter of the United Nations and the international norms applicable to decolonisation processes. 

The head of Algerian diplomacy emphasised the importance of resuming ‘direct negotiations between the two parties in conflict, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, without preconditions’ with the aim of reaching a solution that puts an end to the ‘decolonisation of Western Sahara’. 

Likewise, Attaf reaffirmed Algeria's ‘observer status’ on this issue, equating it with that of Mauritania. This position has been historically upheld by Algeria, which insists that it is not directly part of the conflict, although its role has been key in supporting the Polisario Front. 

De Mistura's visit to Algiers came after a busy schedule in the Polisario Front camps, where he spent three days and met with its leader, Brahim Ghali. The UN envoy has also recently visited Morocco and Mauritania in an attempt to revive stalled negotiations. 

The Italian-Swedish diplomat is scheduled to report to the United Nations Security Council on 14 April on the state of affairs in Western Sahara, a cause that has been without a definitive solution for decades and continues to be one of the longest-running territorial conflicts on the African continent.