The US Under Secretary of State for North Africa visits Morocco against the backdrop of Western Sahara
Joshua Harris, US Deputy Under Secretary of State for North Africa, is visiting Morocco to hold several meetings with senior Moroccan officials, with the question of Western Sahara as one of the important issues to be discussed. Among the appointments planned is a meeting with Nasser Bourita, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The US official was already in the Tindouf camps in Algeria on Friday for talks with Polisario Front officials and Algerian officials to check on the situation of the Sahrawi refugees there, who live in difficult conditions, and also to show US support for a political solution to the conflict in Western Sahara based on the resolutions of the United Nations (UN).
Various organisations such as the Movement Saharawi for Peace, the Fórum Canario Saharaui and Africa Watch have denounced that the Polisario Front and Algeria, in charge of these refugee settlements, have committed abuses against several Saharawi citizens, who are going through a difficult situation.
"My purpose in visiting Tindouf was to express the sincerity of my government's commitment to support the United Nations political process to achieve a permanent and dignified political solution in Western Sahara," said Joshua Harris. The US official met with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Algerian Community Abroad, Lounes Magramane, to discuss plans to support UN efforts to achieve a political solution based on "realism and a spirit of compromise".
The delegation led by Joshua Harris also pointed out that the success of the political process for peace and a solution to the Saharawi conflict depends on a series of conditions, including a ceasefire in the region. In this way, the Polisario Front is sought to accept a ceasefire and the cessation of all military activity.
The position of the United States is very important since the North American giant already recognised the Moroccan status of the Sahara in December 2020 thanks to the mediation of Donald Trump's past administration, following in the wake of the Abraham Accords, by which several Arab countries established diplomatic relations with Israel with a view to pacifying and developing the Middle East region. Subsequently, Joe Biden's current administration has maintained the same line and also strongly supports the work for dialogue between all parties involved led by Staffan de Mistura, the UN secretary general's personal envoy for Western Sahara.
The diplomatic mission represented by Joshua Harris is focused primarily on the regional security issue to seek to promote peace in the North African region and underscores the US commitment to the UN-led political process regarding the Western Sahara dispute, the US State Department said in an official statement.
"Under Secretary of State Joshua Harris arrived in Morocco to meet with Moroccan government officials, including Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, to discuss advancing peace, prosperity, and security in the region," the US State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs said on social media.
Harris' visits to Morocco and Algeria coincide with a tour of important enclaves around the so-called southern provinces of Morocco such as Dakhla and Laayoune by Staffan de Mistura himself, who has made contacts with all the parties involved in the Saharawi question with a view to promoting dialogue and understanding. The UN Secretary-General's personal envoy for Western Sahara has been in contact over the past months with the parties involved, including Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and members of the so-called 'Group of Friends', including Spain, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, in the search for a resolution of the existing problem.
The US and its support for Morocco's proposal for the Sahara
Joshua Harris's tour of Algeria and Morocco highlights the importance that the United States attaches to the Maghreb region and, above all, to the question of Western Sahara. On this issue, the American giant supported the Moroccan kingdom's proposal for Western Sahara under Donald Trump's presidency. This position has not changed under the new government of Joe Biden.
Morocco considers Western Sahara a part of its southern territory and proposes a formula of broad autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty to settle the Saharawi dispute and develop the territory to the maximum. Under this formula, the Saharawis would have a great capacity for self-government, reserving security and foreign policy powers for the Moroccan state.
The North African country has received the support of important nations such as the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Germany and Spain, which have considered its initiative to be the most serious, credible and realistic way to solve the problem of Western Sahara.
On the other hand, the Polisario Front proposes holding a referendum on independence for the Sahrawi population, which has less international backing and is difficult to carry out, as various analysts have pointed out. The Polisario organisation's main supporter is Algeria, Morocco's great political rival, with which it broke off diplomatic relations in August 2021, arguing that it had suffered "hostile acts" from the Moroccan kingdom, despite the outstretched hand that Morocco's King Mohammed VI has always held out to improve relations between the two neighbouring nations.
Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.