Biden camp again involved in Western Sahara feud
President Biden’s administration once again poked its nose in the contentious Western Sahara issue as the US State Department said that on December 6, a key official arrived in Algiers, reports Moroccan news outlet Yabiladi.
On X, previously Twitter, the Department of State announced that Joshua Harris, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for North Africa, had arrived in the Algerian capital.
Harris also visited Morocco, who control 80% of the Western Sahara territory.
The long-term ongoing dispute, between the Algeria-backed Polisario Front and Morocco, has been going on for decades. A referendum on the issue was set to take place back in 1992 but was postponed and has been repeatedly since. Reasons for the push back included concerns over voter eligibility.
READ: Polisario Front claims responsibility for Western Sahara blast
Then American President Donald Trump recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory as part of the Abraham Accords in December 2020. Recent polling suggests that we may see the Republican maverick back in the White House come 2025.
The Department of State added that the diplomat’s goal is to, “conduct a series of consultations with Algeria and Morocco on the promotion of regional peace and the intensification of the United Nations political process in Western Sahara, in order to reach a lasting and dignified solution without further delay,” .
In September of this year, the American official met with the Polisario leader Brahim Ghali as well as Algerian and Moroccan Foreign Ministers Ahmed Attaf and Nasser Bourita respectively.
Yabiladi
