Rabat – Algeria is growing uneasy following a high-level meeting between Mauritania, the US, and Morocco.
Last month, on December 26, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritania Mohamed Salem Merzoug shared a post on X, announcing his meeting with Morocco’s ambassador to Mauritania, Hamid Chabar, and Corina R. Sanders, the Charge d’Affaires at the US embassy in Mauritania.
“The meetings featured exchanges of views on matters of mutual interest,” the Mauritanian official added.
The statement stirred frustration among Polisario’s advocates, including media affiliated with Algeria’s regime. The frustration followed interpretations by observers who suggested that the meeting discussed the Western Sahara dossier and recent diplomatic shift- including UN Resolution 2797.
The historic resolution, adopted by the UN Security Council on October 31 last year, recognized Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as a genuine political solution to end the dispute.
The US-Morocco-Mauritania talks raised questions about whether Nouakchott may move away from its long-held neutrality and join the expanding group of over 120 countries that now view the autonomy initiative as the most or the only elastic basis for resolving the Western Sahara dispute.
Observers have also raised questions about whether the US is encouraging Mauritania to move closer to a position that backs Morocco’s autonomy initiative.
The US, a longstanding ally of Morocco, is determined to strengthen ties with Rabat and is consistently reaffirming its support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the only feasible and realistic pathway to resolving the dispute.
As the penholder of UN Security Council resolutions on Western Sahara, including Resolution 2797, Washington contributed to shaping the international approach to the Sahara dossier.
In 2020, the US recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces, a position that encouraged several countries to acknowledge the Moroccan initiative as the most viable or the only political settlement capable of ending the dispute over Western Sahara.
Following the adoption of Resolution 2797, US senior advisor Massad Boulos said Washington’s support for the initiative is the only basis for resolving the dispute.
Despite the near-consensus that no viable pathway exists outside Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, Algeria’s regime continues to reject the growing international recognition of the Moroccan approach. The regime continues to hold onto its outdated narratives around a “referendum” and “self -self-determination” in Western Sahara.
Algiers also refuses to participate in roundtable talks intended to boost the UN-led political process, despite the explicit terms cited in the recent resolution identifying Algeria as a party to the dispute, and not a mere observer as the Tebboune administration has long claimed.
Since the adoption of Resolution 2797, the Algerian regime has remained in denial, refusing to shoulder responsibility for its central role in the conflict.
As Morocco, Mauritania, and the US enter a phase of dialogue, Algeria has responded with denial in an apparent attempt to avoid further isolation.
Last month, on December 30, Tebboune said Algeria maintains “excellent relations” with Mauritania.
He alleged that his country had never interfered in its internal affairs, and that Nouakchott is free to choose its partners, portraying Algiers as a respectful and peaceful neighbor.
