US tells UN envoy autonomy only solution to Sahara issue
Few days after reiterating recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, the Trump administration has told the UN envoy to the territory Staffan de Mistura that the Moroccan autonomy plan is the only solution to the issue.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio “has reiterated a clear U.S. position – genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution,” under-secretary of state for political affairs Lisa Kenna said after meeting de Mistura.
“The parties must come to the table now to negotiate a mutually acceptable result,” she quoted Rubio as saying.
Marco Rubio reiterated on Wednesday that the United States recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara and supports the autonomy proposal put forward by the Kingdom as “the only basis for a just and lasting solution” to the regional dispute over the Sahara.
In a post on his X account, Rubio said he met with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita to re-affirm the strong U.S.-Morocco partnership. He also reiterated that the U.S. recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and “supports Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute.”
In a statement issued the previous day following the meeting with Bourita, the U.S. Secretary of State reaffirmed his country’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, in line with the position previously communicated by U.S. President Donald Trump to King Mohammed VI.
Marco Rubio also reiterated that the U.S. “continues to believe that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution.”
In this respect, he stated that the American president urges “the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal as the only framework, to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution.”
The UN Secretary General’s personal envoy for the Sahara, Staffan De Mistura has failed to resurrect a UN roundtable process due to Algeria’s obstinacy to attend and Polisario’s camping on obsolete and unfeasible referendum option, while continuing to violate the 1991 ceasefire.
Morocco has been saying that autonomy is the only direction that the UN talk should take to end the over five-decade conflict.
De Mistura has called on the UN Secretary General to consider the utility of his role last October.
He prepares to brief the UN Security Council, amid an international momentum in Favor of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.
The autonomy plan has gained traction this week as the Trump administration calls it “the sole framework” for negotiations.
France has become the latest global power to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory, as Spain, Germany and most of the EU back the autonomy solution.