Western Sahara: Trump calls for a new meeting in Washington
US President Donald Trump is planning to convene a new meeting in Washington about the Western Sahara conflict, reports Le Matin d’Algerie via El Confidencial on February 21st.
Massad Boulos, the US Senior Advisor for Africa and the Middle East, has reportedly invited representatives from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and the Polisario Front to a new round of negotiations aimed at resolving the longstanding conflict before the summer.
This follows the confidential meeting held at the US embassy in Madrid in early February, which didn’t result in any clear agreements from the concerned parties.
El Confidencial reports that negotiations will focus on the Moroccan proposal, which has greatly evolved following the UN Security Council vote in October 2025.
The new plans are reportedly similar to the Spanish system of autonomous communities, in which regions manage health, education, and culture independently.
However, the Sahrawi Parliament would be composed of representatives from different tribes rather than elected officials. The region’s President would be appointed directly by King Mohammed VI and serve as the Kingdom’s representative at the local level.
Under those plans, Morocco would keep control of all security matters, as well as diplomacy and currency. Several points of contention remain: the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed separatist group, insists on a referendum to elect the region’s president, and it demands the return of all refugees living in Tindouf camps without restrictions.
While King Mohammed VI had called for Sahrawis to reunite with their families in Morocco in a November 2025 speech, Rabat is reportedly concerned about the technicalities of repatriating a large group of people, which the UN Refugee Council estimates is up to 165,000 people.
Additionally, the Polisario Front has refused the right of Moroccans living in the Western Sahara but not originally from the region (many of them military personnel) to vote in local elections for at least 10 years.
The US is a longstanding ally of Morocco and has supported the Kingdom in these negotiations; the US backs Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara and maintains close diplomatic ties with the Kingdom.
Algeria and the Polisario Front denounce a situation in which they are presented with a “fait accompli“: the Moroccan plan is the only option on the table, despite the lack of public consultation.
Le Matin d’Algerie, El Confidencial, Maghrebi.org
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
