US pressuring Algeria over Western Sahara, ex-minister says
Sahrawi refugee camp in Tindouf, southwestern Algeria
A former Algerian minister said the administration of US President Donald Trump is using pressure to push a settlement on Western Sahara in a statement published on Facebook, as reported by Moroccan government-friendly outlet Yabiladi and agencies on March 21st.
Abdelaziz Rahabi said recent legislative moves in the United States to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organisation were part of a coordinated effort targeting Algeria and the group.
Republican senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, and Rick Scott co-sponsored the Polisario Front Terrorist Designation Act, which was submitted to the US Senate on March 11th; Congressman Joe Wilson introduced a similar proposal in June 2025.
Rahabi said the initiative aimed to link the Polisario to Iran and portray Algeria as a state supporting terrorism. He added that it sought to shift the Western Sahara issue away from a diplomatic process and present it as a regional security threat.
He described the effort as driven by lobbying pressure and “transactional diplomacy” in the United States, which he said had intensified under the current administration.
The objective, he said, was to weaken Algeria, which supports self-determination in line with the United Nations, and to force the Polisario to concede.
He added that the push came amid ongoing discussions on Western Sahara, including talks held in Madrid and Washington.
“These initiatives, coordinated in their content and timing, can only be seen as means of pressure by the American administration,” he said, adding that Washington was seeking a quick agreement on Western Sahara.
Rahabi also said the designation of terrorist organisations falls under the authority of the US State Department rather than Congress, although lawmakers can influence the process through political initiatives.
Algeria has not officially responded to the proposals, and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has not publicly commented on the issue.
Rahabi has previously spoken on sensitive foreign policy issues without formal government statements.
The Western Sahara territorial dispute has persisted since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975; Morocco promotes an autonomy plan for the territory, while Algeria supports the Polisario Front, which seeks independence.
Under Morocco’s plan, the Western Sahara would be granted limited self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty; the proposal has received widespread international support as a solution to the long-standing conflict.
Yabiladi and agencies, Maghrebi.org
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