France supports the Moroccan plan for Western Sahara, “the only basis” for resolving the conflict

Photo: Ryad Kramdi Agence France-Presse A member of the Sahrawi security forces at a crossing point outside the Dakhla refugee camp in Western Shara.

Claire Gounon – Agence France-Presse in Rabat

Published at 9:12 a.m.

• Africa

France took an important step towards Rabat on Tuesday, reinforcing its support for the Moroccan plan for Western Sahara, now considered as “the only basis” for resolving the conflict with the Polisario separatists, which is almost 50 years old.

With this decision, decried since last week by Algiers which supports the Sahrawi separatists, the Polisario denounced France's support for the “violent and illegal occupation” of Western Sahara.

Paris’s gesture was expected by Morocco, for whom the Sahara issue is a “national cause” and whose relations with France had cooled significantly in recent years.

“This is clear support for Moroccan sovereignty,” Morocco’s ambassador to Paris, Samira Sitaïl, told AFP.

Without expressly recognizing the “Moroccanness” of Western Sahara, French President Emmanuel Macron, in a letter addressed to King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the anniversary of his enthronement 25 years ago, said he considered that “the present and future of Western Sahara are part of Moroccan sovereignty.”

“For France, autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which this issue must be resolved. Our support for the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 is clear and constant,” he adds.

In this letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, he states that the Moroccan plan “now constitutes the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”

Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is controlled largely by Morocco, which is proposing an autonomy plan under its sovereignty. It is claimed by the Sahrawi independence fighters of the Polisario Front who are demanding a referendum on self-determination, planned during a ceasefire in 1991 but never organized.

The UN considers this territory, with its rich fish waters and significant phosphate reserves, to be a “non-autonomous territory”.

Development “imperative”

“The continued economic and social development of this region is an imperative. I welcome all the efforts made by Morocco in this regard. France will support him in this process for the benefit of local populations,” writes Mr. Macron.

“This announcement from the French Republic, permanent member of the Security Council of the UN, constitutes an important and significant development in support of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara”, welcomed the Royal Cabinet in a press release.

Emboldened by the recognition by the American administration of Donald Trump at the end of 2020 of its sovereignty over this territory, in return for a rapprochement with Israel, Morocco has since deployed offensive diplomacy to rally other countries to its positions.

In 2022, Spain, the former colonial power in Western Sahara, made an about-face by abandoning its neutrality on the subject and judging the Moroccan initiative “as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving the dispute”, thus heating up tense relations with Rabat.

The head of Sahrawi diplomacy, Mohamed Sidati, castigated the French inflection.

“The French government is no longer hiding it: by officially declaring these days that it supports “the Moroccan autonomy plan”, it is the violent and illegal occupation of Western Sahara that France is supporting”, he affirmed.

Algeria, which broke off relations with Morocco in 2021, particularly on this issue, had expressed its “disapproval” last Thursday of an “unexpected”, “inopportune and counterproductive” decision by Paris, indicating that it had been informed a few days earlier.

“The subjects that annoy are outdated”

In an allusion to France and Morocco, it had denounced “colonial powers, old and new, (who) know how to recognize each other, understand each other and extend helping hands to each other”. It “will draw all the consequences that flow from this French decision”, Algerian diplomacy had threatened.

The policy of rapprochement with Algeria desired by Emmanuel Macron had irritated Morocco to the highest degree and other issues had reinforced bilateral tensions in recent years.

“The subjects that cause controversy are behind us, even outdated,” said Samira Sitaïl. “We have regained an extremely high level of confidence that makes us believe that we will move forward very, very quickly in the coming months.”

A state visit by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Paris, scheduled for the end of September, could be called into question, according to the Algerian news site TSA, which anticipates a “new diplomatic row” with France.

Western Sahara: the Moroccan autonomy plan

To resolve the conflict in Western Sahara that has pitted it against Sahrawi separatists since 1975, Morocco is proposing an autonomy plan for the disputed territory, but within the framework of its sovereignty and its “national unity.”

“The Moroccan Initiative for the Negotiation of an Autonomy Status for the Sahara Region” was presented by Rabat on April 11, 2007, in response to calls from the UN Security Council for a “final political solution.”

France, which had then described it as “serious and credible,” declared on Tuesday that this plan was “the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”

According to its promoters, this roadmap is supposed to put an end to the impasse and hostilities with the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front supported by Algeria. It is rejected by the latter.

Rabat considers that Western Sahara — which it refers to as its “southern provinces” — was an integral part of its territory before it was colonized by Spain and that its “Moroccanness” could not be the subject of “any negotiation”.

Under the terms of the autonomy plan, the Moroccan state would maintain its sovereignty over this vast desert territory along the Atlantic coast — of which it de facto controls 80% — but would transfer part of its administrative, legislative and judicial powers to the local populations who would manage their affairs “themselves and democratically”.

The “autonomous region of the Sahara” would have a government and its head, a Parliament (composed of representatives of the different Sahrawi tribes and members elected by direct universal suffrage) and its own jurisdictions, overseen by a Tribunal superior.

“The Sahrawi government, parliament and courts will have to regulate, legislate and judge in accordance with the autonomous status of the region and the Constitution of the kingdom,” the text specifies.

The autonomous region would retain control of the budget and local taxation (taxes, duties and territorial contributions) to finance the development of the territory, rich in phosphates and with very fishy waters.

The State would retain the sovereign attributes, such as the flag and currency, external relations, security and defense.

This plan is not set in stone. It aims to “create the conditions for a process of dialogue and negotiation leading to a mutually acceptable political solution,” according to Rabat.

In the event of an agreement, Morocco does not rule out a “free referendum consultation of the populations concerned” and promises a “general amnesty” after the disarmament and demobilization of Polisario fighters.

The Polisario has already rejected this plan and has been calling for decades for a self-determination referendum under the auspices of the UN, planned when a ceasefire was signed in 1991, but never materialized.

The UN considers Western Sahara to be a “non-autonomous” territory.