Western Sahara: Washington pushes for new round of negotiations

Washington is planning to hold a new round of negotiations to resolve the 50-year-old Western Sahara conflict, according to Moroccan government-friendly Hespress on 10th May.

It will involve representatives from the same parties as in previous meetings: Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario Front, which represents the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

It is also expected that the US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, will be present, as well as the UN’s Special Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, who attended previous meetings.

It is expected that the Moroccan autonomy plan, which offers the Sahrawi people a degree of self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty, will remain the only option on the table, but ongoing negotiations are now reportedly focusing on how the plan will be introduced, including a possible period of transition.

The Trump administration has actively pushed for the end of the longstanding conflict, with 3 previous rounds of US-led negotiations organised in Madrid and Washington since the beginning of 2026.

However, the adoption of the Moroccan plan as the only possible solution has left the Polisario Front and its ally Algeria frustrated.

They had demanded a referendum to be held to guarantee the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.

A recent missile attack on the Moroccan city of Smara, allegedly orchestrated by the Polisario, also highlighted how volatile the situation is on the ground.

Smara is situated in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara and has previously experienced attacks from the Polisario Front.

The attack has been widely condemned by Western and Arab states, including the United States. International leaders accused the militant group of endangering civilian lives and of not respecting the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2797, which recognised the Moroccan plan as “most feasible”.

In addition, a recent visit from a UN delegation, tasked with evaluating the work of the MINURSO mission (the UN’s Mission for the Referendum in the Western Sahara), led to tensions after the Polisario accused the team of bias towards Morocco.

Hespress, Maroc Diplomatique, Maghrebi.org