The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken on Monday, November 22 gave strong support to Morocco’s plan, which he deemed “serious” and “credible”, for Western Sahara, a disputed territory at the heart of renewed tensions with Algeria.
“The Secretary of State stressed that we continue to consider Morocco’s autonomy plan as serious, credible and realistic, carrying an approach that can potentially satisfy the aspirations of the people of Western Sahara,” said his spokesperson. Ned Price speech after a meeting between Antony Blinken and his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita in Washington. The two men “expressed their firm support” for the new UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, in charge of a difficult negotiating process, according to the US press release.
The question of Western Sahara, considered as a “non-autonomous territory” by the UN in the absence of a final settlement, opposes Morocco to the separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, since the departure of Spain in 1975. The Polisario demands a self-determination referendum planned by the UN, while Rabat, which controls more than two-thirds of the territory, proposes a plan of autonomy under its sovereignty.
Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States recognized in December 2020 the sovereignty of Morocco over the former Spanish colony in return for a normalization of the kingdom’s relations with Israel. But since President Joe Biden’s arrival at the White House in January, Washington has not commented on this position, while welcoming the Israeli-Moroccan agreement. The meeting between American and Moroccan diplomats comes two days before the first visit to Rabat by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Antony Blinken and Nasser Bourita thus discussed “the deepening of relations between Morocco and Israel”, as the first anniversary of their rapprochement approaches, on December 22.
