According to Western intelligence services, the Algerian military regime continues to defend a terrorist entity, the Polisario, which could lead not to independence but to their destruction together.
The issue of the Moroccan Sahara has undergone a major diplomatic evolution for several years. While the Kingdom of Morocco advocates a solution based on broad autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, the Polisario Front continues to reject this proposal and claims independence for the territory. At the same time, international support for the Moroccan position has considerably strengthened, particularly in the United States, Israel, Europe, and in several Arab and African countries.
This development will lead Washington to go further and consider placing the Polisario Front on its list of terrorist organizations. The issue is being discussed in American political and strategic circles.
The United States took an important step in December 2020, when the administration of President Donald Trump recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara within the framework of the historic ties between Rabat and Washington. Morocco is the first country in the world to have recognized the independence of the United States and provided its ships with naval and military protection in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.
The American decision profoundly altered the diplomatic and military balance surrounding the issue. It occurred in parallel with the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel within the framework of the Abraham Accords.
Since then, the question of the Sahara has occupied an important place in relations between Rabat, Washington, and Tel Aviv. Several American lawmakers have expressed their support for a firmer position toward the Polisario and its main regional supporter, Algeria.
American elected officials have notably called on the U.S. administration to examine the activities of the Polisario Front, its operations, and its links with jihadist terrorist organizations connected with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hamas, the Houthis, as well as groups affiliated with Al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Africa, and drug traffickers.
For international observers, the Polisario, supported by Algeria with billions of dollars for more than fifty years, militarily, politically, and diplomatically, rejects the Moroccan and American proposal.
The American decision of 2020 constituted one of the most significant diplomatic events. Several Arab and African countries opened consulates in the cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, which Rabat considers a concrete manifestation of its international support.
At the same time, several states have described the Moroccan autonomy plan as a serious, credible, or realistic basis for reaching a political solution to the conflict.
Others are opposed to autonomy and support the full sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over its territory in the south of the country, extending to the borders with Mauritania.
One question arises: Why and for what reason does Algeria nevertheless remain the Polisario’s main supporter?