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Although the United States recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for normalizing ties with Israel as part of President Trump’s Abraham Accords in 2020, this strange state remains disputed territory.
It was a Spanish Colony between 1884-1975, known as Spanish Sahara, but in 1963 Morocco demanded the United Nations place it on their Non-Self-Governing Territories list (after claiming the territory since 1957). Following deliberations, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding Spain decolonize its territory. A year later the UN asked Spain to hold a referendum on self-determination.
In 1975 Spain formally handed control of the territory over to Morocco and Mauritania, who immediately began a war over the vast territory after it was partitioned between them. During this conflict the Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from its exile in Algeria on February 27, 1976. The Algerian government has funded and supplied the Polisario Front with arms for decades.
Mauritania subsequently made peace with the Polisario Front in 1979 with Morocco immediately annexing their former sector, thus securing the largest phosphate (fertilizer) resource in the world at Bou Craa Mine as well as Western Sahara’s rich Atlantic fisheries, the foci of their occupation.
The Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro, or: Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia el-Hamra y Río de Oro) is comprised mostly of the indigenous nomadic people of Western Sahara, called the Sahrawi. They began resisting Spanish occupation from Mauritania as early as 1973, and their fight for independence continued through the 1980s with some 15,000 fighters engaged in a guerrilla war against Moroccan security forces. Morocco responded in 1987 by constructing a berm 10’ high and 1,700 miles long lined with bunkers and land mines to exclude the Polisario guerrillas.
Due to the withdrawal of Algerian military support in 1991, the Polisario Front updated its constitution, making it more democratic. Soon after, it accepted a United Nations peace plan for Western Sahara that included a referendum on self-determination (UN Security Council Resolution 690: United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara).
Unsurprisingly, Morocco and the Polisario Front could not agree on voter eligibility and the referendum slated for 1992 was postponed. Numerous meetings between the two factions attempting to define the parameters of the referendum were unsuccessful and in 2000 the UN finally stepped in and demanded both sides consider alternatives to a referendum.
Due to the lack of a resolution, in 2007 the UN agreed to sponsor talks after military threats by the Polisario Front, but again nothing was settled. In 2018 the US insisted talks had to continue in order for UN peacekeepers to remain. Two rounds of meetings took place, again with no progress being made.
The Polisario Front responded by taking action in November 2020 blocking a major Moroccan trade route to Mauritania in the Guerguerat area. Morocco responded with a military operation to remove the blockade. As a result the Polisario Front said they would no longer abide by the 1991 UN peace plan and resumed sporadic attacks against Moroccan troops.
On December 10, 2020 President Trump announced an agreement had been made between the Kingdom of Morocco and Israel to normalize relations. National Public Radio’s (NPR), Michele Keleman reported: “A statement from the Polisario Front questioned whether the move by the U.S. violates international law and said Morocco is, quote, ‘selling its soul to maintain its illegal occupation.’ Trump's move also took the UN by surprise.” NPR continued: “UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the secretary-general is still convinced that it's possible to reach a negotiated solution based on UN resolutions. One former UN and US diplomat, Jeffrey Feltman, says the U.S. was already leaning toward Morocco's plan to offer some autonomy but not independence for the people of Western Sahara.”
“In August 2021, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra announced his country was severing diplomatic ties with the Kingdom of Morocco, citing security incidents. One week prior to this, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune asserted before a meeting of the country's High Security Council that “incessant hostile acts perpetrated by Morocco have meant the need for a revision in relations between the two countries and the intensification of security checks.”
In early October 2021 Algeria closed its airspace to the French military and recalled its ambassador to Paris, with an Algerian government source telling Reuters at the time the president of France had made a number of inflammatory comments, in what Algeria believed to be a bid to secure “far-right”support. Tensions between the two nations have existed since the Algerian War for Independence (1954-1964), and in the event of a war with Morocco it is not inconceivable France would get behind an attempt to replace the Algerian government.” (Robert Inlakesh rt.com 11/4/21)
Also in October 2021 the UN Security Council voted to extend its peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara for a year, expressing concerns at the breakdown of the 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front and calling for a revival of UN-led negotiations. The vote was 13-0 with Russia and Tunisia abstaining.
The resolution calls for a goal of “self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, a phrase diplomats said was added by the US at the behest of Russia, which could have vetoed the text. The resolution also “reaffirms the need for full respect” of a ceasefire that collapsed last year.
Along with the appointment of UN special envoy for Western Sahara, veteran diplomat Staffan de Mistura, the resolution called for “the parties” to resume negotiations “without preconditions and in good faith” in search of a “just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution”. (aljazeera.com 10/29/2021)
Despite UN attempts at reconciliation, Algeria ended its gas supply contract with Morocco on October 31st. The next day three Algerian truck drivers were killed in a blast driving from Nouackchat, Mauritania to the Algerian city of Ouargla. "Several factors indicate that the Moroccan occupation forces in the Western Sahara carried out this cowardly assassination with a sophisticated weapon," the statement from the Algerian Presidency stated.
Algiers previously supplied gas to Morocco and Spain through the Gazoduc Maghreb Europe (GME) pipeline. According to President Tebboune, the reason behind the ending of their contract was due to the breakdown in diplomatic relations with Morocco, a move that might create a gas shortage in the country (which may have been the motivation behind the attack).
“Morocco’s King Mohamed VI stated that Western Sahara is ‘not negotiable. Today as in the past, Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara will never be up for negotiation. If we engage in negotiations, it is essentially in order to reach a peaceful solution to this artificial regional conflict,’ the king said in his televised speech on the 46th anniversary of the Green March of 350,000 Moroccans into Western Sahara.” (aljazeera.com 11/7/21)
The Biden Administration has reaffirmed the United States’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty and is continuing plans to open a consulate in Dakhla, a city in Western Sahara.
A call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita in July 2021 revealed that, although Blinken encouraged Morocco to reaffirm its commitment to human rights, he omitted any mention of Western Sahara or the rights of its people.
“Morocco's repression of the Sahrawi people, and Sahrawi human rights defenders in particular, is well documented. The Sahrawis have struggled under Moroccan occupation since 1975, and this repression will continue until the occupation is ended. And while the United Nations Security Council supports giving the people of Western Sahara the chance to determine their own future through a referendum, Morocco has refused to allow the referendum to take place, depriving us of the chance to exercise our right to self-determination.
I cannot find the words to describe the endless suffering that I personally, and the Sahrawi people more generally, have endured under this violent occupation. But we remain strong, our will unshaken, and we will persevere with our peaceful resistance.” (Sultana Sidibrahim Khaya, CNN 7/29/21)
On March 1, 2022, Member of the National Secretariat, Representative of the Frente POLISARIO to the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO, Dr Sidi Mohamed Omar wrote to the Secretary General: “On 27 February 2022, Sahrawis of all ages took to the streets in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories to commemorate peacefully the 46th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) by raising the SADR flags and chanting slogans in support of the right of the Sahrawi people to freedom and independence.
They also expressed their utter rejection of the continued illegal military occupation by the Moroccan state of parts of the SADR as well as their strong condemnation of the gross violations committed by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians and particularly human rights activists.
The security forces of the occupying state responded to the peaceful demonstrations with brutal and indiscriminate violence and, as a result, dozens of Sahrawi civilians were brutalised and beaten severely at the hands of Moroccan security agents and state-sponsored thugs.”
After Spain allowed a Sahrawi leader to receive COVID-19 medical treatment in Madrid at the request of Algeria in April 2021, Morocco loosened border restrictions around the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.
Unhappy with the Ceuta situation, the Spanish responded: “In a letter to King Mohammed, (Prime Minister) Sanchez backed Morocco’s plan to give more autonomy to Western Sahara as long as it remains unquestionably under Moroccan grip.
The Spanish leader called Rabat’s proposal ‘the most serious, realistic and credible’ initiative for resolving the decades-long dispute over the vast territory – largely barren but rich in phosphates and faces fertile fishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean – which Morocco annexed in 1976.” (aljazeera.com 4/7/22)
In response, “The Polisario Front, Western Sahara's independence movement, on Sunday said it was severing ties with Spain after Madrid backed Morocco's plan giving autonomy to the former Spanish colony.” (reuters.com 4/10/22)
“Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, said on Tuesday that ‘Spain has pending bills that one day it will have to pay,’ during his first interview after Spain's policy shift regarding the Western Sahara dispute. In a recent interview with the Spanish TV channel Telecinco, the leader of the separatist movement tackled the fraying relationship between the Front and the Spanish government after Madrid's backed Morocco's position on Western Sahara. ‘Our official relations are broken,’ Ghali said.” (https://english.alaraby.co.uk 5/25/22)
“Algeria cuts trade and diplomatic links with Spain after Madrid endorses Morocco’s plan for disputed region. The disputed region of Western Sahara in northwestern Africa is straining ties between Algeria and Spain. The Algerian government has suspended a friendship agreement and halted all trade except for natural gas for now.” (aljazeera.com 6/10/22)
“The United Nations envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, was on a visit to Morocco on Monday but has cancelled a planned trip to the disputed territory itself, the UN said. Staffan de Mistura was “in Rabat to meet with Moroccan officials”, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists in New York. ‘He has decided not to proceed with a visit to Western Sahara during this trip, but looks forward to doing so during his upcoming visits to the region.’” (brecorder.com 7/5/22)
“The pro-independence Polisario Front accused Morocco of obstructing a visit by the U.N. envoy for the disputed Western Sahara region and called on the United Nations to reveal the reasons why. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric had said Friday that the secretary-general’s personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura, would ‘conduct a new phase of visits’ to all concerned parties in the region “in the coming days,” starting in the Moroccan capital of Rabat on Saturday. But Monday, Dujarric said in a note to U.N. correspondents that de Mistura ‘has decided not to proceed with a visit to Western Sahara during this trip, but looks forward to doing so during his upcoming visits to the region.’
The Polisario Front’s U.N. representative, Sidi Omar, responded in a statement obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press saying the group ‘deeply deplores’ that Morocco ‘has once again resorted to obstructionism and delay tactics to prevent the personal envoy … from conducting his first visit to the territory.’” (abcnews.com 7/5/22)
“The Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of Western Sahara and the Maghreb, Amar Belani, held, on Saturday, July 30 fruitful consultations with the African Union Commissioner for Political, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye.
Bankole expressed his deep concern for the great human suffering he witnessed in the camps in light of the harsh climatic conditions and the decline of international aid and support, and for what he sensed at the same time from the high resistance of the Sahrawi people and the great hopes they still have in the continental organization to do justice to them, to get their legitimate rights stipulated in the Constitutive Charter of the African Union, especially those related to the basic principles for which the founding fathers struggled in the field of combating decolonization and the right of peoples to self-determination.“ (echoroukonline.com 8/1/22)
“Morocco recalled its ambassador to Tunisia on Friday after Tunisian President Kais Saied received the head of the Polisario Front movement that is seeking independence for Western Sahara, a territory Morocco regards as its own. Morocco said Tunisia's decision to invite Brahim Ghali to a Japanese development summit for Africa that Tunis is hosting this weekend was "a grave and unprecedented act that deeply hurts the feelings of the Moroccan people".
The row opens a new front in a series of disputes over Western Sahara that has already dragged in Spain and Germany and escalated an overarching regional rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, the Polisario's main backer. Tunisia has this year grown closer to Algeria, its most populous neighbour and one upon which it relies for energy, with Saied meeting Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in July.” (msn.com 8/27/22)
“Kenya’s new President William Ruto on Wednesday deleted a tweet that revoked his country's long-standing recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), after a meeting with Morocco Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita at State House Nairobi. Hours after meeting Bourita, who delivered a congratulatory message to him from King VI, Ruto said Kenya would wind down the mission of the SADR in Nairobi. After his initial, now deleted tweet caused a diplomatic furor, Ruto sent out a more reserved one stating that: ‘Kenya supports the United Nations framework as the exclusive mechanism to find a lasting solution of the dispute over Western Sahara.’” (theafricareport.com 9/15/22)
But just days later, Kenya reversed its decision: “Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau said ‘Kenya’s position on the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic [SADR] is fully aligned with the decision of the Organization of African Unity to admit the SADR to its membership on 22nd August 1982 and the AU (African Union) Charter, which calls for the unquestionable and inalienable right of a people to self-determination. Further, the country aligns itself with decisions of subsequent AU assemblies of heads of state and government on the SADR.’” (entornointeligente.com 9/20/22)
“The Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, called before the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly for the ‘end of the occupation’ of Western Sahara and demanded that the parties support dialogue to reach a ‘mutually acceptable’ solution. ‘Algeria reaffirms its support for the rights of the fraternal people of Western Sahara to put an end to the occupation of their territory so that they can exercise their inalienable right to self-determination,’ he explained to the member states. In this regard, Lamamra asked the parties involved - Morocco and the Saharawi Republic - to redouble their efforts of dialogue through the envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, in order to reach a ‘mutually acceptable’ solution. (msn.com 9/26/22)
“Morocco's FM has also alleged that Tehran had provided ‘drones’ to the separatist Polisario Front movement, which has been fighting against Morocco in the disputed territory of Western Sahara since 1973. ‘Iran can no longer continue to undermine security and stability in the Arab region. We see this in Yemen, we also see it in North Africa and Morocco also suffers from this interference,’ said Bourita. Bourita also alleged that Tehran had provided ‘drones’ to the separatist Polisario Front movement, which has been fighting against Morocco in the disputed territory of Western Sahara since 1973.” (English.alaraby.co.uk 10/5/22)
"‘We are concerned about the continuing silence in the world regarding the struggle for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara,’ Ramaphosa said during a visit to Pretoria by Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali. ‘We believe that other struggles are expressed more loudly ... and that is why as South Africans we clearly state that we are firm and unwavering in ... our support for the Sahrawi people,’ added the South African president. ‘It is a just struggle, it is a noble struggle, it is an honorable struggle, a people that wants to decide its own destiny through self-determination,’ he said, drawing a comparison with the struggle of South Africa against the apartheid regime. (africanewzs.com 10/18/22)
“The King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, stressed Sunday on the anniversary of the Green March that began the Moroccan occupation of the Spanish Sahara in 1975 that the process of ‘consolidation’ of the ‘Moroccanness’ of the Sahara is in a ‘crucial phase’. ‘This year we celebrate the 47th anniversary of the Green March at a time when the process of consolidation of Moroccanness in the Sahara has entered a crucial phase,’ Mohamed VI said in his speech, published by the official Moroccan news agency, MAP. The Alaouite monarch highlighted the ‘glorious epic’ that led to the ‘liberation’ of the ‘plundered lands’. ‘From now on, the Marches that we carry out relentlessly aim to ensure to the Moroccan citizen the conditions of a dignified life, particularly in these territories that we love so much’, he assured. (news360.es 11/6/22)
“The leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, has shown his willingness to work with the United Nations for the decolonization of Western Sahara and reiterated that he ‘will not accept’ an approach ‘contrary’ to international law to resolve the dispute with Morocco. Ghali called on the UN Security Council to allow the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to ‘fulfill its mandate’ and to oblige Morocco to ‘put an end to all restrictions that hinder’ the implementation of the 1991 agreement.
In this regard, he asked the European Union (EU) to ‘respect the provisions of international law’ and ‘the resolutions of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) on the legal status of Western Sahara’, according to the Saharawi news agency SPS. The leader of the Polisario Front asked the African Union (AU) to increase its efforts to decolonize Western Sahara and stressed ‘the readiness of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) to work for the resolution of the conflict with the Moroccan neighbor, in strict compliance with the principles of the Constitutive Act of the AU, according to the borders inherited from independence and mutual respect and good neighborliness’”. (news360.es 11/14/22)
“Morocco's King Mohammed VI discussed with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the Sahara issue on Wednesday. King Mohammed received the UN chief at the royal palace in Rabat, said a statement from the royal court. King Mohammed reiterated Morocco’s unwavering position in support of resolving the dispute through the autonomy plan initiative that would safeguard the kingdom’s territorial integrity.
The UN said Guterres and the monarch discussed ‘the situation in the region and, in particular, in Western Sahara’ on the sidelines of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in the Moroccan city of Fez. Guterres discussed the issue in light of UN Security Council Resolution 2654, adopted on October 27. The resolution urges all the parties to cooperate fully with United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), whose mandate was extended one year until October 31, 2023. (english.aawsat.com 11/24/22)
“A global fertiliser supply shock deepened by Russia's Ukraine invasion has brought boom times for the North African phosphate superpower Morocco and earned the kingdom new diplomatic capital. Rabat is using the leverage especially in the decades-old fight over the disputed desert territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony also claimed by Algeria-backed rebels, analysts say.
Morocco is set to chalk up record revenues for a second year running as farmers worldwide scramble for phosphate, made scarce by sanctions against top world producer Russia and a Chinese ban on exports. The result is that Morocco is enjoying not only an influx of cash, but also growing diplomatic muscle (Phosphate Diplomacy), particularly on Western Sahara. The kingdom sees the vast stretch of desert as an integral part of its territory, but the Polisario movement backed by Morocco's arch-rival Algeria seeks independence there. Rabat has placed the question at the heart of its diplomacy. King Mohammed VI in August demanded that Morocco's allies ‘clarify’ their stances on the issue, calling it ‘the prism through which Morocco views its international environment.’” (monitor.co.ug 12/6/22)
“The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, has affirmed that France's position on Western Sahara is ‘unequivocal’ and ‘clearly favorable’ to Morocco, warning that the support given over the years to the autonomy plan for the former Spanish colony has not depended on the positions that other countries may have adopted. Regarding Western Sahara, both the Ministry and Colonna herself in an interview to the daily Le Matin have made it clear that the Gallic position is known and will not change. The French government considers the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara as ‘a basis’ for negotiations, one level below Spain, which sees it as the ‘most serious, realistic and credible’ proposal. ‘France's position is unequivocal,’ said Colonna, a supporter of a ‘fair and realistic’ solution to the territorial dispute and of the mediation of the UN special envoy, Staffan de Mistura. He also supports the work of the United Nations mission, MINURSO, to ‘avoid tensions’, especially now that the two parties have broken the cease-fire.” (news360.es 12/16/22)
“The United States and the Netherlands are set to buy dozens of T-72 tanks from Morocco and then forward the weapons on to Ukraine, in a deal negotiated in secret between Washington and Rabat. Notably, the move marks a deviation from Morocco’s neutral stance toward the conflict with Russia.
Morocco buys 91% of its arms from American suppliers, and Washington is a key backer of Rabat’s claim over Western Sahara – where some 500,000 people currently live under Moroccan military occupation. Morocco’s claim to the disputed region has caused friction with its neighbor, Algeria. Rabat believes Algiers has strengthened ties with Moscow in recent months, and reportedly agreed to sell tanks bound for Ukraine as a way to spite Russia.” (libertarianinstitute.org 12/21/22)
“Morocco is conditioning the establishment of an embassy in Tel Aviv on formal recognition by Israel of its sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, the American site Axios reported on Wednesday. Four Israeli officials directly involved in the case told the site that Rabat has repeatedly raised the issue in meetings with Israeli officials over the past few months.” (i24news.com 1/4/23)
“President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, stressed in Dakhla, in the Sahrawi refugee camps, that the 16th Congress of the Polisario Front was ‘clear in its decisions and in setting priorities for Sahrawi national action in the next stage.’ Brahim Ghali praised the efforts of the Sahrawi army fighters who continue the struggle ‘with determination and resolve to complete the liberation task’.
The Secretary-General of the Polisario Front stressed that the success of the 16th Congress, which was held under the slogan ‘Escalating Fight to Expel the Occupation and Complete Sovereignty, did not come from a vacuum’, but came ‘as a result of a comprehensive popular effort of the entire Sahrawi national body, in all its locations, through multiple stages, over three years of national action.’” (allafrica.com 1/23/23)
“Michele Sison, the US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, and former American Ambassador to Haiti, has reiterated US’ support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, describing it as a ‘serious, credible and realistic solution’ to the dispute over the Western Sahara.” (Moroccoworldnews.com 1/25/23)
“The Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (SPLA) carried out new attacks targeting entrenchments of the Moroccan occupation army in the Hawza sector, causing heavy losses in lives and equipment, according to military statement No. 724 issued Monday by the Ministry of Defense. The statement highlighted that detachments of the Saharawi People's Liberation Army targeted, with violent and concentrated shelling, the positions of the Moroccan occupation soldiers in the regions of Fadrat Lagharab and Fadrat Alaash in the Hawza sector.
Advanced detachments of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army had focused their attacks on Sunday, targeting the positions of the Moroccan occupation forces in the sectors of Hawza and Mahbas, in the regions of Rous Diret, Fadrat Atamat and Laagad. The attacks of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army continue to target the positions of the Moroccan occupation forces, which have suffered heavy losses in lives and equipment along the wall of humiliation and shame, the statement added.” (allafrica.com 1/31/23)
“‘There is a war and nobody is talking about it. Everybody is talking about Ukraine, and nobody is talking about Western Sahara.’ Najla Mohamed-Lamin was at home with her newborn son when she received a call that her youngest brother, Hamdi, had been hit in a Moroccan drone strike in Western Sahara, a forgotten war the international community has effectively chosen to ignore.
‘There were eight of them. They were just making tea - they were not in direct confrontation,’ she told The New Humanitarian. "[Hamdi] heard the drone coming... then he started running, screaming, calling his friends by their names. And he got no response.’ Hamdi is lucky to be alive. According to Mohamed-Lamin, three of his comrades were killed on the spot in the November 2022 attack, and a fourth died en route to a military hospital in a Sahrawi refugee camp in southwestern Algeria. It's in these camps that Mohamed-Lamin, her family, and over 173,000 Sahrawis live - in perpetual exile from their native land of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that has been under Moroccan occupation since 1975.” (allafrica.com 2/1/23)
“The international community is pledged to move from words to deeds, to support the decolonization of Western Sahara and to implement a referendum agreement for self-determination, the Arab Committee for Solidarity with the Sahrawi People said, here on Monday.
In a statement on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the founding of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, the Arab Committee said, ‘This glorious anniversary comes, and the Arab Sahrawi people are stronger, more determined, and more willful to move forward in their struggle to obtain their right to complete independence and liberate the entire national territory.’
In this context, it affirmed, ‘its commitment to work side by side with the Sahrawi people and its political and militant leadership represented by the Polisario Front, the sole and legitimate representative of the Sahrawi Arab people, and all the institutions of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to achieve a resounding victory.’” (echoroukonline.com 2/27/23)
“In a press release issued yesterday, Dr Sidi Mohamed Omar, member of the National Secretariat, Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO, stated that the letter recently sent by the representative of the occupying state of Morocco at the United Nations to the President of the Security Council is yet another example of this person's obsession with fabrication, slander, and misrepresentation.
With regard to the Moroccan regime's desperate attempt to discredit the legitimate struggle of the Sahrawi people, the Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO underscored that the continuation of the military illegal occupation of parts of the Territory of the Sahrawi Republic (SADR) by the Moroccan occupying state, its continued expansionism as well as its attempt to ‘increment’ its power by allying itself with external parties is the real threat to the security and stability of the entire region.” (allAfrica.com 3/15/23)
“Josep Borrell reaffirmed the European Union's strong support for the efforts made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura, to continue the political process with the aim of reaching a mutually ‘just and acceptable’ political solution to the issue of Western Sahara, on the basis of the settlement stipulated in the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. The EU official pointed out that the European Union is in regular contact with the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, and is ready to accompany his efforts to resume the negotiation process between the two parties to the conflict (Morocco and the Polisario Front).”(allAfrica.com 3/15/23)
“President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has asked Spain to invite Western Sahara to the Ibero-American summit, while calling for African countries with different ties to Latin America to be granted the status of observer countries, including Western Sahara, which is he says the victim of an ‘injustice’.
At the summit, which was held Friday and Saturday in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, the Colombian president began his speech by calling for ‘building bridges with the African continent’, including Spanish-speaking countries such as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in this type of forum.” (allAfrica.com 3/27/23)
“A first ground convoy to supply United Nations mission sites in Western Sahara east of the berm security barrier will be organized for the first time since 2020, the UN announced Thursday. The oldest functioning security barrier in the world, the 1,700-mile (2,700-kilometer) sand wall -- or berm -- separates the Moroccan territory from land controlled by Polisario rebels, who have been fighting and negotiating for control of Western Sahara since the 1970s.
The former Spanish colony is considered a ‘non-self-governing territory’ by the UN in the absence of a final settlement. A UN report last year warned that restrictions on the supply chain to the MINURSO mission sites east of the berm have ‘increasingly serious consequences for the mission's ability to sustain its field presences’ there.” (barrons.com 3/30/23)
“President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, has reaffirmed the full readiness of the Sahrawi party to cooperate with the efforts of the United Nations to resolve the conflict in Western Sahara in a context that respects the legal framework as a decolonization issue.
President Brahim Ghali stressed that the United Nations is obligated to protect the Sahrawi citizens in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and their fundamental rights, and to immediately stop all forms of intensive illegal exploitation of the Sahrawi natural resources by the Moroccan occupying state.” (allAfrica.com 4/16/23)
“Israel will soon announce its support for Morocco's claim of sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region, Israeli parliament speaker Amir Ohana said on Thursday during a visit to Rabat. The Algerian-backed Polisario Front demands an independent state in Western Sahara. In 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump recognised Morocco's claim to the territory in return for its partial upgrade of relations with Israel.
‘I am fully aware of the importance of the recognition of the Moroccan Sahara ... Israel should move towards the goal of recognizing the Moroccan Sahara just as our closest ally the U.S. did,’ Ohana told reporters after talks with his Moroccan counterpart.” (reuters.com 6/8/23)
“Israel linked on Monday its pending decision on recognizing Morocco’s claim on Western Sahara to Morocco hosting a repeatedly postponed forum of foreign ministers involved in a U.S.-sponsored regional normalization drive.
‘We are right now working in regards to this issue and our plan is to have our final decision in the Negev Forum,’ Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told reporters, adding that he expected the Moroccan-hosted event to take place in September.” (reuters.com 7/3/23)
“Units of the Sahrawi people's Liberation Army (SPLA) targeted, with violent and concentrated shelling, the entrenchments of the Moroccan occupation soldiers in the Mahbes sector, causing heavy losses in lives and equipment.
Advanced detachments of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army targeted the entrenchments of the occupation soldiers in the Akwiret Ould Ablal region in the Mahbes sector, indicated Monday Military communiqué No. 831 of the Ministry of National Defense.
Advanced detachments of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army had focused their attacks earlier on Sunday, targeting the positions of the Moroccan occupation forces in the sectors of Amkala and Mahbes, in the regions of Amkali Labkar, Faderet Ajdiria and Sabkhet Tanuashad.
The attacks of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army continue targeting the positions of the Moroccan occupation forces, which have suffered heavy losses in lives and equipment along the wall of humiliation and shame, concluded the communiqué.” (allafrica.com 7/10/23)
“With Israel recognizing Western Sahara as part of the Moroccan kingdom and a contentious fishing agreement between Morocco and the EU expiring, tensions are intensifying between the Polisario Front, Morocco and Algeria.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, making Israel the second country (after the United States under the Trump administration) to back Rabat's claims.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Monday welcomed the move, saying in a statement that it would ‘strengthen the relations between the countries and between the nations, as well as the continuation of cooperation to deepen peace and regional stability.’” (dw.com 7/19/23)
“Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, who spoke with Al-Monitor following his meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior US officials last week, said the Biden administration’s recent statements on Western Sahara indicate a more favorable position than under Trump.
‘The Biden administration has not at all endorsed the Trump decision,’ Attaf said in an Aug. 9 interview. ‘On the contrary, they are taking the distance explicitly from the position expressed by President Trump.’ In an attempt to stake out a middle ground, the Biden administration has neither reversed Trump's proclamation, as Algeria had hoped, nor has it followed through on the former president’s pledge to Morocco that it would open a consulate in Western Sahara.
Seeking a more neutral position, the Biden administration has referred to Morocco’s proposal to grant Western Sahara limited autonomy under its sovereignty as ‘one of the many potential approaches’ to resolving the conflict. The language is a subtle departure from the Trump administration’s declaration that the Moroccan autonomy plan was ‘the only basis for a just and lasting solution’ to the dispute.
Attaf pointed to the US statement issued after his meeting with Blinken, in which the secretary ‘reiterated full support” for the work of the UN envoy on Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura,’ as he consults intensively with all concerned to achieve a political solution. ‘That means that you do not recognize that the territory is Moroccan,’ Attaf said. ‘If you recognize it, you would not ask for an additional endeavor to find the solution.’” (al-monitor.com 8/15/23)
“Moroccan and Algerian representatives to the United Nations sparred over the fate of Western Sahara on Tuesday, with Algiers calling for the revival of a long-stalled referendum on the fate of the former Spanish colony.
‘We Algerians have chosen the camp of justice, decolonization, freedom, self-determination and human rights,’ said Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama. ‘This commitment applies to the cause of the Sahrawi people, who have been waiting for nearly half a century for the UN to do them justice.’” (africanews.com 10/2/23)
“The word is crystal-clear and, above all, fraught with consequences: When, in August 2022, Mohammed VI referred to Western Sahara as a ‘prism’ through which Morocco would henceforth judge its international environment, he meant it. For Rabat, the time for diplomatic caution is over. The time has come to separate true friends from fake ones. In his famous speech, the King called on the kingdom's ‘partners’ whose ‘positions on the Sahara issue are ambiguous’ to ‘clarify’ them.
The allusion is aimed first and foremost at France, which is in a hurry to formally recognize Morocco's ‘sovereignty’ over the former Spanish colony, a territory to Morocco's south (266,000 square kilometers, with a population of approximately 600,000), which is disputed by the Algerian-backed independence fighters of the Polisario Front. Hesitant, and anxious to find a balance between Rabat and Algiers, Paris has not yet taken the plunge. This wait-and-see attitude has exasperated the Moroccans and fueled ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two countries.” (lemonde.fr 10/2/23)
“Moroccan al-Yaoum 24 website said the explosions in Smara were caused by the Polisario attacks launched from the Tifariti region, in a dangerous precedent that targeted residential neighborhoods.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Moroccan sources said that the Polisario Front is ‘playing with fire’ by targeting civilians, describing its actions as a ‘cowardly act of terrorism.’ Meanwhile, the Sahara Press Service, affiliated with the Polisario Front, said its units targeted Moroccan forces in the al-Mahbas sector, causing heavy losses.
The Ministry of National Defense issued a military communique stating that advanced units of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army targeted Moroccan soldiers in Akrara el-Fersik and el-Shadimia. Morrocan forces were also targeted in the Mahbes sector. The source stated that the Front's militias focused their attacks earlier, targeting Moroccan forces' positions in the Smara and Mahbas.” (english.aawsat.com 10/30/23)
“‘The Moroccan monarchy is trying to greenwash its occupation’ said Mahfoud Bechri, the coordinator of the Western Sahara is Not for Sale campaign (WSNS). ‘It is trying to present itself as a leader in the energy transition, but most of its new projects are in the Western Sahara. By involving foreign companies, like Siemens, they are making Europe complicit and creating a sense of normalcy in the occupation.’
‘These firms are aware that what they are doing is illegal’ argued Bechri, in a phone interview. ‘European agreements do not extend to the occupied territories, which are separate from Morocco under international law. There is an ongoing conflict, and a peace process, which need to be resolved first and foremost. They never asked the Sahrawi people for consent—which is a necessary legal step. This has been confirmed several times by EU Court of Justice (EUCJ) rulings.’
Why is the Moroccan monarchy desperate to turn the Western Sahara into a profitable venture? The main reason is to gain legitimacy while offsetting the heavy costs of settlement and, especially, the enormous military expenditure. The Western Sahara’s urban centres largely depend on expensive desalination plants; the territory is ill-fitted to support large populations, while Morocco incentivised its population to move there with tax breaks and free or cheap land.” (forbes.com 11/26/23)
“Over the last few months, a new discourse has emerged on Western Sahara. Following the Polisario attack on Smara, novel concerns have been raised that the Polisario Front and its state supporters (e.g., Algeria and South Africa) are undermining US interests. Some analysts have argued that recent events demand the designation of the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization and Algeria as a state sponsor of terrorism. These claims are strongly disputed by the Polisario Front and its supporters.
To make sense of these developments, it is important to understand what is happening behind the scenes in US-Algeria and US-South Africa relations. When viewed through that lens, new competitive reasons come into focus for the US government and its allies to support the consolidation of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. These contextual shifts not only threaten the existence of the Polisario Front and the independence of the Sahrawi people: They could create tensions in US-Algeria and US-South Africa relations that other state actors, like China, Iran, or Russia, could exploit. At the same time, there are also contextual shifts pulling in the opposite direction. The most important is a recent improvement in US-Algeria relations. This is being spearheaded by the United States Embassy Algiers and the National Security Council.
The White House recognizes that this presents a challenging strategic landscape. It accepts that there is a need for a change in the status quo and views the intensification of the United Nations political process in the Western Sahara as the best possible option for trying to do so. This is despite the fact that it will create tensions in US-Morocco relations.” (fpri.org 12/7/23)
“Ireland reaffirmed, through its Embassy in Rabat, that it does not recognize and has never recognized the pseudo ‘SADR’ (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) and maintains a constructive stance regarding the artificial conflict surrounding the Moroccan Sahara.
This position, as defined by the Irish Government, was reaffirmed on Saturday in an official statement issued by the Embassy of Ireland in Rabat, which clarified that ‘Ireland’s position on Western Sahara, maintained for some time, is full support for the process led by the United Nations and the efforts of the Secretary-General to reach a definitive and mutually acceptable political agreement on this issue.’
This unequivocal statement issued by the Irish Embassy put an end to an attempt at manipulation by the leader of the separatist militia of the Polisario, Brahim Ghali, who boasted of a supposed visit to Dublin.” (ip.gov.py 2/17/24)
“French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné reiterated on Monday Paris's ‘clear and continuous’ support for the Moroccan autonomy proposal to resolve the conflict over the Western Sahara, affirming the willingness to make progress on this file during his visit to Rabat.
Séjourné said in a press conference following talks with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, ‘We know it is a strategic issue for Morocco (...) It is time to move forward, and I will personally ensure that,’ also announcing Paris's proposal to establish a partnership for the next thirty years with Morocco.” (reuters.com 2/26/24)
© 2022 James B. Angell All Rights Reserved
Thank you, very good article, just found your substack and read this one first, as i had researched the subject myself some years ago, maybe 2014 or so when i saw an article about this somewhere.
Truely this conflict has been scrubbed from western media, as i cannot remember seeing anything about this after that, first it was 'Trump bad - Trump mad' 2015-2019, then it was 'coof will kill us all, use triple mask' 2020-2022, then 'Putin bad - Putin mad' from 2022->
Maybe if some banking giant, medical company or arms manufacturer could make untold billions in profit from Western Sahara, we would see it in the news daily...
Just found this. You’ve once again introduced me to people and places so unfamiliar they might as well be extraterrestrial.