May 15. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Government of the United States has praised this Sunday “the crucial voice” of King Mohamed VI of Morocco regarding what the US authorities consider the “advancement of regional peace and his leadership in promoting a secure and prosperous future for Israelis and Palestinians”.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has conveyed this message to the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Naser Bourita, to whom he has conveyed his intention to strengthen the bilateral relationship between Washington and Rabat.
Blinken’s spokesman, Matthew Miller, explained that both diplomats have stressed the importance of full adherence to the recent ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Islamic Jihad, while they have also spoken of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the need to move towards a solution to the conflict in Syria.
Blinken has also affirmed Washington’s “full support” for the UN special envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, “while intensifying” the United Nations process towards “a lasting and dignified political solution for the people of the Sahara West and the region”.
The former Spanish colony of Western Sahara was occupied by Morocco in 1975 despite resistance from the Polisario Front, with whom it remained at war until 1991, when both parties signed a ceasefire with a view to holding a self-determination referendum, but the differences on the elaboration of the census and the inclusion or not of the Moroccan settlers have prevented its call up to now.
On November 14, 2020, the Polisario Front declared the ceasefire with Morocco broken in response to a Moroccan military action against Saharawi activists in Guerguerat, in the agreed demilitarized zone, which meant for the Saharawis a violation of the conditions of the Stop the fire.
The latest setback for the Saharawi independentistas has been the support of the Spanish government for the Moroccan autonomy plan made public on March 18 in a letter addressed to the Alaouite king, Mohamed VI, a change of position described as treason by the Polisario Front, which remember that Spain is still ‘de jure’ the administering power of Western Sahara.
