MADRID, 16 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Algerian Foreign Minister, Ahmed Attaf, has been “very satisfied” with the current position of the United States Government on Western Sahara since, although the Joe Biden Administration has not officially reversed the symbolic gestures given by the former president Donald Trump, his statements would show that he does not recognize the former Spanish colony as “Moroccan territory”.
Trump recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara in December 2020, but after the change of government, Washington has opted for more impartial positions that, de facto, imply a return to the previous position, with messages in favor of United Nations mediation to resolve the conflict.
“The Biden Administration has not supported Trump’s decision at all,” Attaf said, in an interview with the ‘Al Monitor’ news portal that coincides with his recent visit to the United States, where he met with the Secretary of State American, Antony Blinken. “They are explicitly distancing themselves from the position expressed by President Trump,” he said.
After meeting with Attaf, Blinken stressed his government’s “full support” for the mediation led by the UN envoy, Staffan de Mistura, which for the Algerian minister implies assuming that sovereignty does not have to be Moroccan. “If you recognize (sovereignty), you would not ask for an additional effort to find a solution,” he said.
The head of Algerian diplomacy is looking for something “very specific” from the current US Administration, such as “contributing to reviving the peace process”, currently at a standstill. The parties directly involved have not moved one iota from their respective positions, in such a way that Rabat only contemplates a limited autonomy for Western Sahara and the Polisario Front advocates a self-determination referendum.
