Morocco gains Oman’s support in Western Sahara dispute

Oman has shared its support for Morocco over its national territory, including its leadership in the Western Sahara region.

According to the Moroccan government-friendly The Arab Weekly, on the 13th of April, Oman made these supportive remarks to Morocco at the end of the 7th Moroccan-Omani Joint Commission chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita and his counterpart, Badr Bin Hamad Bin Hamoud al-Busaidi.

The current state of the Western Sahara is a contentious issue with the United Nations currently considering the region as a “non-self-governing territory”.

Despite this, Morocco has laid claim to the region, controlling the majority of the area whilst the Algerian-backed Polisario Front independence movement controls the other regions.

This highly contested area has received increasing support from the international community for the Moroccan side in recent months.

This month on the 8th of April, Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, backed Moroccan sovereignty in the region and insisted that “Morocco’s proposal for autonomy must serve as the only framework for reaching a mutually acceptable solution.”

This has also been furthered by France and Spain’s support for Morocco, making it look as if Algeria and the Polisario Front are increasingly unlikely to be able to make a serious claim to the region.

Oman and Morocco have not just come together on the control of Western Sahara by Morocco; rather, the relationship between the two is extending into business as Bourita has expressed the goal of building a stronger relationship between the two countries.

This first step has been taken by an invitation of Omani businesses to their “second country” in Morocco where they can gain key investment opportunities such as the 2030 World Cup which will partly take place in Morocco.

Now, with Oman and Morocco building a stronger partnership and openly supporting Moroccan sovereignty in the region, there appears to be an increasing sentiment in the international world that Morocco will be the recognised sovereign of this region.

The Arab Weekly, Maghrebi.org