Sahara Issue: U.S. Reiterates Support for Autonomy Plan, Deeming it ‘Serious, Credible and Realistic’

The United States on Monday reiterated its support for Morocco’s autonomy plan, deeming it “serious, credible and realistic” with a view to settling the regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara. “We continue to view Morocco’s autonomy plan as serious, as credible, as realistic”, said the U.S. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel, during his daily press briefing. “There is no change in the U.S. position on this matter”, Vedant pointed out while answering a question on the telephone call held Sunday between the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the Moroccan minister of Foreign affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan abroad, Nasser Bourita. The U.S. unwavering stance was underlined last March by Binken, who reaffirmed his country’s support for Morocco’s autonomy plan with a view to achieving a sustainable political solution to the regional conflict over the Sahara, under the auspices of the United Nations. In talks held in Washington with his Moroccan counterpart, Blinken stressed that the United States “continues” to consider this plan as “serious, credible and realistic”. During a telephone call Sunday with Bourita, the US top diplomat recalled his country’s “full support” for UN Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General Staffan de Mistura. Through the voice of several U.S. senior officials, the Biden administration enshrines a tradition in Washington confirming the primacy of the Moroccan autonomy initiative which was submitted by the Kingdom in 2007, for the final settlement of the artificial conflict over the Sahara. This unwavering position of the United States, regardless of the political affiliation of the administration at the helm in the White House, has favored the historic recognition in 2020 by this international power and influential member of the UN Security Council of Morocco’s full sovereignty over all of its territory, including its southern provinces.