HIBAPRESS – Shafiq Anouri
An analytical paper issued by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy revealed Algerian concerns regarding Morocco's success in resolving the Sahara dispute, highlighting that the leaders of the El Mouradia Palace are demanding US guarantees not to touch the "Eastern Sahara".
The paper stated that the Algerian elite views the issue of the borders inherited from colonialism with "sanctity," which means that any "solution or roadmap" must take this perception into account, continuing that the settlement must include "guarantees not to touch the Algerian borders that were drawn after colonialism," in reference to the Eastern Sahara. The United States Initiates a Solution to the Dispute. The paper clarified that the United States of America had previously announced its intervention in order to implement Resolution 2797 issued by the UN Security Council in October 2025, by holding discussions between the four parties to the Moroccan Sahara dispute; Morocco, Algeria, the Polisario, and Mauritania. The source continued that the talks are led by the senior advisor to US President Donald Trump for Arab and African Affairs, Mossaed Boulos, along with the United States' envoy to the United Nations, Mike Waltzer. The source reported that the Madrid talks ended "without agreement," but "the Trump administration is keen to continue the dialogue in the coming weeks," in implementation of the UN resolution, which expressed its appreciation for Washington's readiness to host negotiations in support of the personal envoy's mission to the Moroccan Sahara. American Pressure Forces Algeria to Yield. The paper considered that the United States of America had achieved an important achievement by "bringing Algeria to the negotiating table," because this matter "was not easy," because "El Mouradia Palace" did not participate, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, in the vote on Resolution 2797. The source pointed out that the threats within Congress to impose sanctions on Algeria due to its arms deals with Russia, and to include the Polisario Front on the list of terrorist organizations, "undoubtedly played a role in convincing Algeria to participate in the talks," despite its insistence so far that it is a "regional observer" and not a party to the dispute. The Decline of International Support for the "Imaginary Republic". The research paper shed light on the international isolation that the separatist Polisario Front is suffering from, highlighting that after the declaration of the "Imaginary Republic" unilaterally, it received support from more than 80 countries, before more than 50 countries withdrew their support after that. The source indicated that Algeria hosts Sahrawi camps on its lands, explaining that the population number is uncertain, as it is 174,000 according to some sources, compared to about 40,000 according to other sources that the research paper described as "reliable" because they visit the camps regularly. Algeria's Sensitivity Towards the Border Issue. The paper also clarified that the Algerian leadership shows "great sensitivity towards its borders," which led the authorities to arrest the writer Boualem Sansal simply because he made statements about the file of border demarcation with Morocco, which is older than the Sahara dispute itself. The American research paper affirmed that the leaders of Algeria want US guarantees not to open Morocco in the future the file of the borders inherited from colonialism, and to demand the Eastern Sahara, following that addressing the concerns of the parties will remain a fundamental factor for their involvement in the talks and achieving tangible results.
