Moroccan Sahara: US Reaffirms Support For Morocco’s Autonomy Plan
There is ”no change in the clear and consistent US position” regarding the Moroccan Sahara issue, said on Sunday by the US State Department, while reiterating Washington’s support for Morocco’s autonomy plan viewed as ”serious, credible, and realistic.”
In a statement published on the eve of the visit to Morocco of U.S. Assistant Secretary for North Africa Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Joshua Harris (Dec.17-18), the State Department stressed that during his talks in Rabat, the U.S official will reiterate that ”there is no change in the clear and consistent US position.”
The new reaffirmation of the consistency of Washington’s position provides a scathing denial of the allegations conveyed by some Algerian media outlets which insinuated a change in the U.S. position on the Sahara issue.
”The United States fully supports UN Personal Envoy de Mistura in facilitating the negotiations process to achieve a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable solution for Sahara,” the statement points out.
After recalling that the United States ”believes a negotiated political solution should be realized without further delay,” the same source underlines that ”the outcome of UN-led negotiations – mutually agreed to by the parties and reflecting their commitment to UN efforts in a spirit of realism and compromise – would constitute the final resolution to this issue.”
”In this regard, the United States continues to view Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal as serious, credible, and realistic,” it says. The visit to Rabat of Deputy Assistant Secretary Joshua Harris will also focus on the means to further strengthen the U.S.-Morocco partnership in addition to a range of regional security priorities,” the statement stresses.
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