RABAT (MOROCCO) (ITALPRESS) – The United States is significantly accelerating the Western Sahara issue by convening a third meeting today and tomorrow (February 23 and 24), with the goal of signing a framework agreement as early as May in Washington, based on Morocco’s autonomy initiative. El Confidencial reports, citing confidential diplomatic sources.
The new round of negotiations convened in the federal capital represents the third meeting in less than a month, following the late January session in Washington and the February 8-9 round in Madrid, and signals the American resolve to resolve a decades-old dispute. According to consistent sources, the current process is aimed at establishing a limited technical mechanism composed of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and the United States, with the contribution of UN and international experts, charged with refining and implementing Morocco’s autonomy proposal. The American push is part of Security Council Resolution 2797, which calls on the parties to negotiate without preconditions on the basis of Morocco’s autonomy plan.
The text marked an evolution in the negotiating framework, emphasizing a realistic and compromised political solution. Diplomatic circles also emphasize that Algeria’s participation in the process is now considered inevitable, after years of reservations regarding the format of the Geneva round tables launched in 2019. Several factors explain this shift: the new framework outlined by Resolution 2797; Washington’s growing pressure on the issue, with threats to declare the Polisario a terrorist group or impose sanctions on Algeria; Algeria’s regional isolation following the loss of support from its historic allies, such as Iran, Venezuela, Syria, South Africa, and Cuba.
The US administration’s stated goal is to reach a framework agreement by spring that would allow the dispute to be resolved in 2026. This new phase is being closely followed in Europe, where the stability of the Sahara is increasingly being linked to regional security, maritime routes, and the management of migration flows.
– Photo Yabiladi –
(ITALPRESS).
