Although they try to hide their disappointment, the Polisario and Algeria have been particularly struck by the UN Security Council Resolution 2414 on the Sahara. The text insists on a realistic political solution and recognizes the prevalence of the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco, at a time Washington renewed its support for this initiative.
In an address before the Security Council, the US representative to the UN Nikki Haley said that the United States continues to “consider the Moroccan autonomy plan as serious, credible and realistic and represents one of the possible approaches to meet the aspirations of the people of the Sahara for the management of their own affairs in peace and dignity”.
The statement stresses that the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 remains on the agenda of the Security Council, whose members are brushing aside the idea of ??a new failed state in the Maghreb.
Another reason for concern for the Polisario is that the fifteen members of the Security Council have warned the separatist front against its project “to transfer administrative functions to Bir Lahlou.” And while demanding the withdrawal of the Polisario elements from the Guergarate zone, Resolution 2414 summons the Algeria-backed separatist movement to “refrain from such destabilizing acts”.
As for the decision to extend MINURSO’s mandate for only six months, instead of a year as it had been the rule for years, it reflects the Security Council’s concern to maintain pressure on the protagonists.
A decision that makes Algeria particularly uncomfortable, given the Council’s insistence on “neighboring states” to strengthen their “commitment to progress towards a political solution” to this regional conflict.
