US optimistic about resolving Morocco-Algeria tensions

US President Donald Trump’s senior advisor for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, is reportedly optimistic about securing a “peace deal” between Morocco and Algeria, as reported by Yabiladi plus agencies on October 27th.

According to Boulos, a deal to resolve the ongoing Western Sahara territorial dispute is expected to be reached within the next two months. He stated that “Once a permanent solution to the Western Sahara issue is achieved, resolving the conflict between Algeria and Morocco will become significantly easier.”

In an interview with Sky News Arabia on October 27th, Boulos said that there will be a UN Security Council session on October 30th “regarding the Sahara,” where the US government will be “collaborating with all partners and allies, particularly Morocco and Algeria, to reach a Security Council resolution that is as satisfactory as possible for all parties.”

Boulos’s announcement came just days after Steve Witkoff, the US envoy for the Middle East, told reporters on the October 20th edition of CBS’s “60 Minutes Overtime” program that the Trump administration is “working on a peace agreement between Morocco and Algeria at the moment.” He added: “There will be a peace agreement, in my opinion, within 60 days.”

Both Witkoff and Boulos are businessmen, and Boulos is also the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter, Tiffany; both men have played key roles in Trump’s Middle East policy during his second presidential term. 

The two North African countries have been in conflict over the Western Sahara since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. The region is the ancestral homeland of the Sahrawi people and is currently under Moroccan control, which claims sovereignty over the territory.

However, Algeria accuses Morocco of forcibly displacing the Sahrawi people through a campaign of land seizures and the destruction of homes. Algeria backs the Polisario Front militias, an organisation that claims to fight for Sahrawi self-determination and independence of the Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) from its “Moroccan occupier.”

Morocco has proposed granting Western Sahara limited self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty, and the plan has been endorsed by 130 countries as of October 27th.

On October 25th, media outlets friendly to the Algerian government accused France and the UAE of exerting “intense pressure” within the UN Security Council, allegedly in an attempt to secure a deal that was unfavourable to Algeria.

France, the former colonial power in Algeria, reportedly endorsed Morocco’s proposal on April 16. Both France and the UAE have invested heavily in Morocco, with France investing in the country’s aerospace industry, while the UAE has invested in Morocco’s water and energy sectors.

Algeria’s continued support for the Polisario Front has made the nation increasingly isolated as more countries have begun cutting ties with the group. The nation’s international legitimacy is further eroded by allegations that the separatist group is funded by Iran, which reportedly supplied the group with mortar shells on July 7th.

Yabiladi plus agencies, Maghrebi.org