US reaffirms support for Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara

United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau reiterated Washington’s support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in Rabat, urging a “swift” resolution to a conflict that has been ongoing since 1975.

The US reaffirmed its support for Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara on Wednesday during a meeting between Landau and Nacer Bourita, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Morocco is pushing an autonomy proposal for the region that would give Western Sahara autonomy over social and economic policy, budget and taxation, while Rabat would retain control over foreign relations, the judiciary and currency.

The United Nations has also backed the initiative.

“We are certainly trying, in the framework now of the most recent Security Council resolution, to bring a peaceful resolution to that conflict that has gone on for an unacceptable time since 1975, when I was only 11 years old,” Landau said at a joint press conference after the meeting.

“This can’t be that, that these kind of conflicts last beyond the lifespan of human beings.”

The pro-independence Polisario Front, backed by Algeria and representing the region’s indigenous Sahrawi population, resumed its fight for self-determination in 2020 after a proposed referendum failed to take place.

“Today, against this backdrop, the United States supports an approach that we hope will lead to a definitive solution within the sole framework of the initiative for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty presented by the Kingdom of Morocco,” Bourita told reporters.

The US recognised Morocco’s claim over the mineral-rich former Spanish colony in 2020, in return for Morocco’s rapprochement with Israel.

Rabat has since deployed increasingly forceful diplomatic efforts to rally other countries to its side.