Tags : Western Sahara, Frente Polisario, Morocco, Donald Trump, United States, Steve Wittkoff, Jared Kishner, Algeria, Abraham Deal,
By Abdelaziz Rahabi
Steve Witkoff’s statement about a curious U.S. initiative is difficult to define, as Algeria has not been formally associated with what seems to be the excessive activism of President Trump and his “Deal Diplomacy.” What appears to be mediation between Algeria and Morocco is, in reality, an influence operation coordinated among the United States, France, and the United Kingdom within the Security Council—an institution they have turned into a tool for validating their positions, particularly regarding Western Sahara.
These three powers have presented a text that gives the Council the ability to transfer Sahrawi sovereignty to the occupying power and to present this as a guarantee for normalizing relations between Algeria and Morocco.
The connection made between these issues stems from a neocolonialist mindset and wrongly portrays Algeria as a party to this operation, in which it has no interest—except the appearance of being sensitive to foreign pressure.
Paris, the intellectual and material author of the “Moroccan Autonomy Plan,” is currently working to elaborate it further and make it more readable, modeled after the case of New Caledonia.
The British, who long defended the principle of self-determination, are now being caught up by their own history. For them—as recently also for Russia—a broad autonomy can be considered a form of self-determination. Gibraltar, historically Spanish territory and listed at the UN since 1946 as a non-self-governing territory, should therefore legitimately benefit from this shift in British doctrine.
What remains is that this time, it is the United States that has put its full weight behind organizing a vast operation whose goal is to present the Sahrawi problem as an Algerian-Moroccan dispute, to legitimize the occupation of Western Sahara, to help stabilize their Moroccan ally, and to offer the Polisario Front broad autonomy—or even part of its historical territory—without consulting the people.
The United States is also concerned about the growing Russian and Chinese presence in Africa. Unable to rely on the modest means of its African allies with Atlantic coastlines, Washington is seeking to establish itself in the Sahel—a vast lawless area marked by great instability and posing a real terrorist threat.
It is difficult to believe that the problems of our region will be resolved in the same way as in the Middle East—through fragile balances, financial promises, transactional diplomacy, and publicity stunts. Without direct and unconditional negotiations under UN auspices between the Polisario Front and Morocco, it is unrealistic to believe in a fair, lasting, and definitive solution to the Sahrawi question.
#WesternSahara #Morocco #Polisario #USA #France #UK #Algeria