US urges Algeria to back efforts by UNSG’ s envoy to Solve Sahara Conflict

The United States has recently called on Algeria to fully commit to the UN-led political process and to support the ongoing efforts by UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara Staffan de Mistura to solve the regional dispute.

In a phone call between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, the USA called on the North African country to lend “full support for UN Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General Staffan de Mistura as he intensifies efforts to achieve an enduring and dignified political solution for the Sahara,” the Department of State said in a statement.

The talks touched on the two countries’ relationship and addressed the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

According to the statement from the State Department, the US official congratulated Algeria on its election to the UN Security Council, and stressed the need to partner on the “full range of challenges” facing the UN-led process in the Sahara.

Algeria hosts the Polisario separatists in the Tindouf camps, providing them with military, logistical and financial support and extending them unconditional support for their separatist whims. Morocco has repeatedly underlined Algeria’s “historical responsibility” in the dispute, and stressed that without its support, there would be no Polisario Front.

Yet, the Algerian regime claims that it is merely an observer rather than a main party to the dispute, and refuses to take part again in the UN-moderated roundtables, an initiative seeking to relaunch talks and dialogue between the main parties to the Sahara dispute – Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Polisario.

Algeria thus continues to reject its responsibility in the Sahara dispute and defies the international community’s recommendations – including the latest resolution adopted last year in October that openly urged Algeria to strongly engage in the political process in a spirit of realism and compromise to ensure a successful outcome.

For Morocco, this resolution sealed once again Algeria’s status as a main stakeholder in the regional dispute.