The latest round of presidential bavardages delivered by President Tebboune was marked by a hint to an upcoming volt face on the Sahara issue as Algeria takes part in US-brokered talks in implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2797 calling on all parties to negotiate on basis of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
“For Western Sahara, there is a UN resolution. It is making its way,” Tebboune told, in a tone lacking his usual bravado, his sycophant media.
By abiding by resolution 2797, Tebboune implicitly accepted that the UN process he once dismissed is now unfolding toward a political solution under Moroccan sovereignty, anchored in the autonomy plan Algeria fought so hard to torpedo.
Tebboune’s remarks amount to acknowledgement of failure of Algerian strategy to fabricate separatism in the Moroccan Sahara.
The shift is all the more telling when recalled against Algeria’s recent diplomatic conduct. When Resolution 2797 was adopted on 31 October 2025, Algeria chose not to vote. Not “no.” Not even abstention. It simply vanished from the room.
Days later, the regime tried to recover lost face through a rambling television performance by its foreign minister.
Resolution 2797 names Algeria as a party to the conflict and considers autonomy the most feasible solution.
In his interview, Tebboune skipped his usual rhetoric on Sahara and chose to change the subject to Palestine. This sudden transition to an unrelated foreign policy topic suggested that saying more would be risky for a regime that has built its entire doctrine on countering Morocco’s territorial integrity.
Tebboune’s interview came right after a visit by US deputy secretary of State Christopher Landau who met officials in Algiers and Rabat.
Landau reiterated US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara and said that the conflict should be resolved soon.
By no longer attacking Resolution 2797 outright, Algiers signals that it is preparing the ground, however reluctantly, for changes it can no longer prevent. The specter of dismantlement of the Tindouf camps, disarmament of the Polisario and political reconfiguration towards the autonomy plan are now inevitable. The Algerian regime has better think of how to condition a people it has lied to for decades to accept this new reality: the Sahara is Moroccan and it shall remain so.
