Latest news with #Algerian-backed
Morocco World
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
US Under Trump's Leadership Propels Push for Final Resolution of Sahara Dispute
Doha – A Spanish think tank report suggests the United States under President Donald Trump's returned administration is moving decisively toward resolving the decades-long fabricated Western Sahara dispute. This would potentially draw a definitive close to one of Africa's most unnecessarily prolonged and politically manufactured territorial falsehoods, long sustained by external agendas rather than historical legitimacy. According to an analysis published by Instituto Coordenadas de Gobernanza y Economia Aplicada on June 11, 'the Trump administration has urged Algeria and the Polisario Front to sit down immediately with Morocco and accept that the only possible political path is autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.' During his first term, Trump recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, marking a landmark diplomatic breakthrough for Rabat. Now, following his return to office in January, the American president appears poised to complete this initiative by establishing a definitive roadmap to resolve this contrived and concocted standoff in North Africa. Last April, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated the 'unwavering support' of his country for Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara, in addition to expressly stressing that the Autonomy Proposal presented by Rabat is the only viable and realistic solution to resolve the prolonged dispute in the region. Algeria pressed to choose between change or deeper isolation Washington has signaled its intention to review and potentially suspend funding for several UN missions, including the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). In a sharply worded op-ed published on March 19 in the Washington Examiner, Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, called on the United States to halt funding for MINURSO, describing it as a failed mission that 'preserves and provokes conflict.' He labeled the Algerian-backed Polisario Front a 'Marxist' group that 'holds wives and children as hostages' in the Tindouf camps to block Sahrawis from returning to Morocco. 'By funding these camps and inflating Polisario legitimacy,' Rubin wrote, 'the UN perpetuates the problem.' This possible withdrawal of financial support 'underscores the urgency for direct parties – Algeria and the Polisario Front – to join negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement based on autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty,' the Instituto Coordenadas report states. The report asserts that 'today, Morocco's autonomy proposal is the only basis for a credible and viable solution, but to make way for it, Washington needs the complicity and commitment of Algeria.' The White House has adopted measures 'to pressure Algiers, including pushing for Polisario disarmament and dismantling the Tindouf camps,' to bring all parties to the negotiating table. 'Presumably, Algeria will be subjected to pressure of unprecedented intensity, which will practically leave it no room for maneuver. That is the intention, at least,' the analysis notes. Refusal to cooperate could result in 'devastating consequences: greater diplomatic isolation, legal complications for its support of the movement, and probable secondary sanctions against Algerian entities that maintain links with the Polisario.' The report cautions that 'in Algiers, abandoning support for the Polisario after fifty years of commitment would be perceived as capitulation by a significant portion of the national establishment.' Another pressure point involves 'the threat of declaring the Polisario Front as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO),' which constitutes a serious warning. A recent article published by the Hudson Institute on April 18 presents 'detailed legal arguments' maintaining that 'the Polisario Front meets the three legal criteria to be designated as an FTO' under Section 219 of the US immigration and nationality law. Washington's rush to seal the Sahara file Morocco's UN Ambassador Omar Hilale stated in an April interview with Medi1TV that 'the United States is determined to close the Western Sahara file, and we hope to celebrate the final end of this dispute at the 50th anniversary of the Green March with our Algerian neighbors.' The anniversary falls on November 6 – a highly symbolic date for all Moroccans. Speaking from New York, Hilale added that the current international context is 'marked by a positive dynamic and unprecedented international efforts.' He noted that more than 110 countries now support Morocco's position. The Instituto Coordenadas analysis explains that the Trump Administration considers Morocco an essential partner in its strategy for stabilizing the Sahel. American expectations regarding the Sahara 'aim to consolidate Morocco in a new status as a pivotal state in the US strategy for Africa.' In this regard, Washington's rush to resolve the Sahara dispute is also explained by its direct implications for the stability of the Sahel, a strategic region facing multiple security challenges, the report continues. 'This concern is reinforced by the growing presence of rival powers in the region, especially China, although it does not support the Sahrawi demands. One of Trump's international priorities is to counter China's growing influence in the world, including Africa,' the report continues. According to the report, there are also powerful economic interests in this urgency: the persistence of the dispute destabilizes the region and disrupts access to uranium, gold, and rare earth deposits that are vital to global supply chains. For the Iberian think tank, the US administration 'is aware of the enormous economic potential of the African continent, which promises the greatest future growth (demographic and economic), but also immense mineral wealth.' 'The White House is eager to establish new relational frameworks with countries in the region that take into account protection in terms of security, the definition of formulas to achieve greater political stability, and economic agreements that provide preferential access to resources and markets,' the analysis went on to say. The report argues that the American urgency to resolve the Sahara dispute is the result of a conjunction of strategic factors: the limitations of the internal political calendar, with the midterm elections (2026) in mind; the desire to consolidate Morocco as a pivotal state in Africa; competition for African mineral resources; and the determination to counter the influence of rival powers on the continent. Curtains closing on a separatist relic Rubio's forceful declaration, issued after his meeting with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, inflicted a humiliating setback on Algeria's outdated narrative. His statement erased any lingering ambiguity surrounding the stance of Trump's second administration and cemented US recognition as an irreversible pillar of American foreign policy. This bold reaffirmation torpedoed Algeria's worn-out campaign to resuscitate its decades-old partition scheme between Morocco and the Polisario Front. And for the shrinking chorus of separatist sympathizers, the message couldn't be clearer: even Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, came face to face with the reality that separatism has been sidelined – a relic of the past in a dossier Morocco has already locked in its favor. Meanwhile, international calls are mounting to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization. In an opinion piece published on June 10 in La Provincia, Igacio Ortiz recalled Polisario's terrorist attacks against workers from Fos Bucraa and fishermen from the Canary Islands. ACAVITE has filed complaints against the Polisario for the separatist group's involvement in assassinating 300 people between 1970 and 1980. In April, US Republican Congressman Joe Wilson announced, 'I will introduce legislation to designate the Polisario as terrorists,' accusing Algeria and Russia of using the separatist front to gain a strategic foothold in Africa. Former UK Secretary of State for Defense Liam Fox made a similar appeal, stating: 'Like Hamas and Hezbollah, the Polisario Front is an Iranian proxy organisation. For the sake of our Moroccan allies, Western governments must move quickly to designate this group as a terrorist organisation.' As international support continues to grow for Morocco's position, De Mistura delivered what he called a 'strategic window' for the next three months to build a renewed roadmap toward a political settlement. De Mistura urged capitalizing on the current momentum, which he described as an 'unprecedented impetus,' to establish the groundwork for regional de-escalation and credible political process revival.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Political tides in Africa are shifting: Britain must be clear who its friends are
While the world's attention has understandably been focussed on events in Ukraine and Gaza, the Foreign Secretary's recent visit to Morocco saw Britain seize the initiative on a diplomatic issue that has been neglected by the international community for nearly half a century; that of the status of Western Sahara, under administration by Morocco since 1975, but whose sovereignty over the region has been disputed by the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, sometimes violently, for decades. This example of British diplomatic engagement is particularly significant in the context of the new Strategic Defence Review, and the British Government's stated aim of enhancing national security through economic growth. This vast territory of more than 100,000 square miles is home to 565,000 people – a population roughly the size of Leeds, spread across an area bigger than the United Kingdom, although largely concentrated in the town of Laayoune, the regional capital, and Dakhla, the largest and fastest growing container port on the east Atlantic coast. Morocco has invested heavily and imaginatively in the Western Sahara, providing tens of thousands of new jobs, and the prospect of many more to come, yet its full economic development has been held back by a frozen territorial dispute, which has contributed to a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria. Under an encouragingly wide-ranging partnership agreement signed this week between London and Rabat, the UK has, for the first time, acknowledged the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting peace in the Western Sahara. The autonomy plan, first presented to the United Nations in 2007, represents the only credible, lasting solution for peace in the Western Sahara. Under its provisions, an autonomous region would be established within the Moroccan State, with Morocco taking responsibility for defence and foreign affairs, but with local control over law enforcement, taxation, infrastructure, economic development, cultural affairs and the environment. By accepting the broad principles of the autonomy plan, UK diplomacy at last moves into line with other key western allies including France, Spain and the United States, shifts the dial at the UN Security Council and within the General Assembly and lays the ground for a definitive, permanent resolution of the dispute. Such a resolution is in the best interests of the people of the Western Sahara, and it is by far the best hope of bringing prosperity, and economic and human development to that region, and wider. UK support for the Moroccan autonomy plan, in conjunction with a comprehensive range of other cultural and economic initiatives of great mutual benefit, seems to be firmly in line with the Foreign Secretary's declared diplomatic approach of 'progressive realism'. It demonstrates a recognition by the FCDO that the political tides in Africa are shifting once again, and that the UK needs to be clear-sighted about who its friends are, which countries can be trusted and reliable partners, and which countries are offering opportunities for the continent's potential and solutions to its challenges. In this respect, Morocco has proved to be a bulwark against terrorism, extremism, serious crime, illegal migration and the destabilising activities of Russia's and Iran's proxies in sub-Saharan Africa – and the autonomy plan offers further, exciting economic opportunity and potential. It is security, stability and prosperity that will help address the humanitarian issues of the refugee camps, undermine the poisonous appeal of extremism and slow migration, and offer hope. Those that oppose this move, with an insistence on perpetuating a deadlock, have their own vested interests that offer nothing to the people of the region. Supporting stability in the Sahara is politically and diplomatically the right thing to do, but our support for Morocco and its ambitions in the region also will unlock huge economic opportunities for British companies, and this UK-Moroccan partnership includes a £5 billion facility from UK Export Finance, which in turn will drive faster economic growth across the region. Trade with Morocco is already a quiet success story for Britain, and trade between our two countries has already almost doubled since 2018, to over £4.2 billion in 2024. Morocco plays an important role in ensuring supermarkets are stocked year-round, without competing with our own farmers and fishermen, and tomatoes, sardines and soft fruit are among our biggest imports. Britain's ambition of becoming a clean energy superpower can be boosted by access to landmark projects in solar, wind and green hydrogen through this new partnership. UK companies can also play a significant role in equipping Morocco's healthcare system with digital tools, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, while there are new safeguards against the counterfeiting of British brands. I would hope that further defence engagement opportunities were also discussed in these meetings – not simply defence sales and training, but the possibility of greater cooperation in the eastern Atlantic to address new maritime challenges. Britain and Morocco have been engaged with each other for over 800 years. The first Moroccan ambassador came to London in 1600 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and our first trade treaty was signed over 300 years ago. We are now moving into a new era, looking to address challenges and seize opportunities together. Last year, the Foreign Secretary spoke of a reset in relations between Britain and Africa, and a strategic engagement with the continent grounded in 'progressive realism'. The UK's re-energised partnership with Morocco, putting security, stability and prosperity at the forefront of this engagement, proves that those sentiments were not just words. Lt Gen Sir Simon Mayall is a retired British Army officer and a former Middle East adviser at the Ministry of Defence Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Morocco World
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Western Sahara: Bolton Continues to Lead Anti-Morocco Crusade
Rabat – John Bolton, who Trump fired from his position as national security adviser in 2019, is keeping up his Morocco-bashing campaign in favor of Algerian-backed claims challenging Moroccan sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara. In a new opinion piece published in the Washington Times, Bolton urged the US to support the outdated referendum claims promoted by the Algerian regime. Bolton's latest plea is bound to fall on unreceptive ears For decades, Algeria's regime has been using the Polisario Front – a separatist group harbored in the Tindouf camps on Algerian soil – to advance its interests against Morocco by supporting referendum and self-determination claims. Ignoring Algeria's involvement in interference in the domestic affairs of other countries in the Sahel region, Bolton blamed Morocco's strong ties with the West as the reason that 'worked to the Sahrawis' detriment.' But he claimed that the situation is changing, suggesting that Algeria is seeking new alliances and the first-ever US-Algeria military cooperation agreement that the North African country signed at the start of the second Trump administration. This 'signals a new direction,' he claimed. To the dismay of Polisario supporters, however, recent developments suggest that their continued agitation for separatism in southern Morocco are bound to fall on unreceptive ears. In the past few weeks, many comments and moves by various US officials have given renewed vigor to Washington's support for Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces. Indeed, with the first Trump administration being the instigator of Washington's unambiguous embrace of Morocco's territorial integrity in December 2020, the incumbent Trump administration has in recent statements signaled its unwavering commitment to upholding Western Sahara and that came months after Trump assumed his office as the US President of the United States for the second time in the country's history. In April, the US sent a direct setback to Algeria's regime, stressing that its decision of December 2020 remains unchanged and recognizing Morocco's full sovereignty over its southern provinces. The State Department issued a similar statement following a meeting between Marco Rubio and his Moroccan counterpart . In it, the seat of American diplomacy made sure to remind Algeria and its advocates that Washington supports Morocco's Autonomy Plan as the only feasible political solution to end the Western Sahara dispute. All of this comes as the Moroccan autonomy initiative continues to gather steam and build unprecedented momentum. Over 113 countries, including once staunch supporters of the Polisario, have over the past decade joined the growing list of nations that see the autonomy plan as the only viable path to a lasting and realistic political solution to the Sahara dispute. Reality does not matter Yet this blindingly obvious reality does not appear to discourage Bolton from continuing his support for the lost, sidelined cause of Sahrawi separatism in southern Morocco. His latest anti-Moroccan tirade dismissed Morocco's growing momentum and turned a deaf ear on Polisario's alarming use of terrorist threats to give renewed urgency and relevance to its waning cause. Many observers have decried Polisario's recent terrorist attacks in southern Morocco, yet Bolton dismissed these condemnations as a 'new line of propaganda' against Sahrawi emancipation. 'The Polisario's opponents are trying a new line of propaganda, alleging without evidence that the Polisario has come under Iran's influence. This misinformation may well be intended to divert U.S. attention from Morocco's decades-long stonewalling against a referendum,' he claimed. Bolton's dismissive claims come in defiance of many reports, including some that have quoted high-level US and regional officials as confirming that there has been collusion between Polisario (in support of the Algerian regime's agenda in the Maghreb) and Hezbollah, the notorious Iranian proxy. In April, the Washington Post quoted sources as confirming that Hezbollah had been trainingPolisario operatives on Syrian soil, with the blessing of Iran and the fallen al-Assad regime in Syria. 'Over the years, Iran has fostered a wide array of proxy groups to advance its interests,' the report said, quoting a regional official and a third European official who said Iran trained fighters from the 'Algeria-based Polisario Front' that are now detained by Syria's new security forces. Such reports have resurfaced on many occasions in recent weeks and months, alerting the international community about Algeria's interference in the domestic affairs of several countries. 'Over the years, Iran has fostered a wide array of proxy groups to advance its interests,' the Post report went on to stress, quoting a regional official and a third European official as indicating that Iran had trained fighters from the 'Algeria-based Polisario Front' that are now detained by Syria's new security forces. Read also: US Senator James Inhofe, Western Sahara, and 'Alternative Facts' Meanwhile, Algeria's interference in its neighbors' internal affairs is now known to have not been limited to Morocco. Mali and its Sahel allies, Niger and Burkina Faso, have recently slammed Algeria's hegemonic ambitions in the Sahel. They accused the Algerian army of shooting down a surveillance drone near the border with Mali, lamenting that this was not an isolated incident as Algeria had long interfered in Malian internal affairs. Yet none of this was enough to convince Bolton of the veracity of Morocco's warnings against the security threats that Polisario and its Algerian sponsors represent not only for Morocco, but for the entire Sahelo-Saharan corridor. Like most hardened ideologues, Bolton prefers his tainted vision to the reality under his nose. Despite mounting evidence of Polisario's cancerous impact on regional security and stability, he remains convinced that the terror-linked militia is a peace-loving group seeking decolonization. The mountain of reports about Polisario's atrocities; the well-documented links between Polisario and terrorist groups in the Sahel; the tortured voices of oppressed locals denouncing Polisario and calling for a political solution to end their families' decades-spanning tragedy, the pile of UN reports acknowledging the impossibility of a referendum-based solution — none of this seems to matter to Bolton. And what's more, arguing that Western Sahara 'should return to its 1991 origins,' Bolton is implicitly suggesting that his truth is what matters to him, not the tragic reality on the ground. Tags: Algeria and John Boltonjohn Bolton and algeria
Dubai Eye
29-05-2025
- Health
- Dubai Eye
UAE to UN: Arab Group says Israel's use of 'starvation as weapon of war is evident'
UAE Ambassador to the UN, Mohamed Abushahab has delivered the 22-member Arab Group statement on Israel's "deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war" in Gaza at a UN Security Council briefing, calling it "starkly evident". Highlighting the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza during Wednesday's meeting, the statement cited chaos at an aid distribution centre on Tuesday as evidence of the urgent need for full, unhindered access to aid across the Strip. The statement from the Arab Group highlighted that 160,000 tonnes of food supplies remain stalled at border crossings since Israel lifted the 11-week aid blockade. Only 408 trucks have been permitted to enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, Abushahad said, adding that only 115 trucks have successfully delivered aid into Gaza. "A drop in the ocean compared to Gaza's overwhelming humanitarian needs," the statement asserted, highlighting that over 2 million Palestinians continue to face severe shortages of food and medicine, with no aid reaching the northern Strip. The Group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan and Egypt, also rejected Israel's proposed aid mechanism, arguing it violates humanitarian principles. The Group urged Israel to implement the UN's five-phase humanitarian aid plan without delay. "Since Israel's breach of the ceasefire last March, the systematic destruction of hope and life for Palestinians in Gaza has persisted," Abushahab said. The statement referenced the case of Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli airstrike — a powerful example, the gGroup noted, of the human toll of the war. The statement also expressed alarm over Israel's continued military escalation in Gaza and the West Bank, the expansion of settlements, and changes to the legal and religious status quo at holy sites in Jerusalem. The Group reaffirmed its backing of the Arab plan for Gaza's recovery, led by Egypt in coordination with Palestine and the UN, and called for international support ahead of an upcoming reconstruction conference in Cairo. The UAE also called for the lifting of restrictions on UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, stressing its vital role in delivering aid and safeguarding refugee rights, including the right of return. The Group urged the Council to support the Algerian-backed resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, protection of civilians and aid workers, and removal of barriers to humanitarian aid. 'Any delay will only exacerbate civilian suffering and cost more lives,' the statement concluded, calling on all countries to support efforts toward a two-state solution.
TAG 91.1
29-05-2025
- Health
- TAG 91.1
UAE to UN: Arab Group condemns Israel's use of 'starvation as weapon of war'
The UAE has delivered the 22-member Arab Group's strong condemnation of Israel for its "deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war" in Gaza at a UN Security Council briefing on situation in the Middle East, calling it "starkly evident". Highlighting the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza during Wednesday's meeting, UAE Ambassador to the UN, Mohamed Abushahab, cited chaos at an aid distribution centre on Tuesday as evidence of the urgent need for full, unhindered access to aid across the Strip. The statement from the Arab Group highlighted that 160,000 tonnes of food supplies remain stalled at border crossings since Israel lifted the 11-week aid blockade. Only 408 trucks have been permitted to enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, Abushahad said, adding that only 115 trucks have successfully delivered aid into Gaza. "A drop in the ocean compared to Gaza's overwhelming humanitarian needs," the statement asserted, highlighting that over 2 million Palestinians continue to face severe shortages of food and medicine, with no aid reaching the northern Strip. The Group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan and Egypt, also rejected Israel's proposed aid mechanism, arguing it violates humanitarian principles. The Group urged Israel to implement the UN's five-phase humanitarian aid plan without delay. "Since Israel's breach of the ceasefire last March, the systematic destruction of hope and life for Palestinians in Gaza has persisted," Abushahab said. The statement referenced the case of Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli airstrike — a powerful example, the group noted, of the human toll of the war. The statement also expressed alarm over Israel's continued military escalation in Gaza and the West Bank, the expansion of settlements, and changes to the legal and religious status quo at holy sites in Jerusalem. The group reaffirmed its backing of the Arab-Islamic plan for Gaza's recovery, led by Egypt in coordination with Palestine and the UN, and called for international support ahead of an upcoming reconstruction conference in Cairo. The UAE also called for the lifting of restrictions on UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, stressing its vital role in delivering aid and safeguarding refugee rights, including the right of return. The Group urged the UN Security Council to support the Algerian-backed resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, protection of civilians and aid workers, and removal of barriers to humanitarian aid. 'Any delay will only exacerbate civilian suffering and cost more lives,' the statement concluded, calling on all countries to recognise the State of Palestine and support efforts toward a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
