Gulf states endorse Morocco’s Western Sahara plan

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has reaffirmed its support for Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara territory, according to Africanews and agencies on December 5th.

This supportive stance was reportedly expressed as the 46th GCC Supreme Council session concluded in Bahrain, with the council welcoming the UN Security Council’s vote to endorse Resolution 2797, also known as the Moroccan Autonomy Plan, on October 31st.

Attempts to bolster the partnership between Morocco and the GCC, which includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, have been growing due to the GCC’s support for Moroccan sovereignty over the contested Western Sahara region.

Following the vote to support Moroccan autonomy, the UAE sent a message of support to Morocco, which described the plan as “an essential step toward a definitive political solution.”

Under Morocco’s proposal, the Western Sahara would be granted limited self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty, a plan that has received widespread support as a “feasible solution” to a conflict that has been ongoing since Spanish colonial rule of the territory ended in 1975.

Morocco’s ties to the GCC member state, the UAE, go beyond resolving territorial disputes, as plans were announced in May to invest $13 billion in Morocco’s struggling water and energy sectors, which reportedly signalled that Morocco and the United Arab Emirates have deepened ties.

The investment would support major infrastructure projects, such as water and electricity transportation; the announcement came as relations between Morocco’s regional rival, Algeria, and the UAE were deteriorating.

Algeria has rejected Resolution 2797, and pro-Algerian media have accused the UAE of exerting “intense pressure” within the UN Security Council.

Through its rejection of Moroccan sovereignty and continued support for the Polisario Front, a separatist militia, Algeria has become increasingly diplomatically-isolated.

The Algerian-backed Polisario Front refuses to participate in negotiations it views as legitimising what it perceives as Morocco’s illegal military occupation of the Western Sahara, which is the ancestral homeland of the Sahrawi people.

The group, which reportedly has links to Iran and Hezbollah, is engaged in armed struggle against what it calls the “Moroccan occupier.” However, the group’s legitimacy has been undermined by the international community, with at least 46 nations severing or suspending ties with the group.

Africanews and agencies, Maghrebi.org