Saudi Arabia reiterates its support for Morocco on Western Sahara issue

Saudi Arabia has reiterated at the UN headquarters in New York its support for Morocco's sovereignty and territorial integrity of Western Sahara. 

The permanent representative ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Al Moullami underlined that the Arab country "rejects any violation of the supreme interests or the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the brotherly Kingdom of Morocco". According to the media Rue20, Moullami welcomed the holding of two round tables in which the Sahara issue was discussed with the participation of Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania.

The Saudi representative called for "the continuation of this process in order to reach a definitive solution to a conflict that has lasted too long". With this declaration, Saudi Arabia continues to support Morocco's efforts to try to find "a political and realistic solution to the question of the Moroccan Sahara" based on the relevant Security Council resolutions and under the aegis of the UN Secretary General.

In turn, Moullami pointed out that this is a solution that would comply with international law and would be in accordance with the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions and the UN General Assembly.

In this context, last April, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita held an online meeting with his counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud. In this meeting, the Saudi prince once again expressed his full support for the issue, underlining the commitment to support the territorial unity of Arab states. Thus, Morocco and Saudi Arabia reaffirm their diplomatic commitment in a context in which diplomacy in the Middle East is experiencing historic milestones.

Less than a month ago was the anniversary of the Abraham Accords, a historic pact between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that resulted in the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the three. In turn, countries such as Morocco welcomed the agreement, intensifying diplomatic relations in security, technology and economic agreements with Israel, which is significant as the kingdom does not yet have an official Israeli embassy in Morocco.

With Saudi Arabia's reiteration of the Moroccan ownership of the Sahara, the Arab country follows in the footsteps of the United States, which glimpsed its support for Morocco when former president Donald Trump recognised Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara and announced the normalisation of relations between Morocco and Israel. The current president, Joe Biden, has followed Trump's lead by assuring that there is "no change" in his position on Western Sahara.

Saudi Arabia is followed by a list of 22 countries that have shown their support for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

In the last elections, the high turnout from the southern regions showed "the unwavering attachment of the citizens of the south to their Moroccanness", according to the Moroccan government. Morocco blames this high turnout on the Alawi kingdom's reinforcement of economic and social development in the Sahara with the aim of creating a new development model in which human rights are achieved.