Two weeks after a first round of negotiations in Madrid, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario Front met in Washington on February 23 and 24 to hold new confidential talks. For several months now, the Trump Administration has accelerated the diplomatic pace to close the Western Sahara file for the benefit of its Moroccan ally.

First modification: 02/26/2026 - 23:14

This is a diplomatic sequence that is as intense as it is discreet in a file that has been going on for 50 years: the autonomy of Western Sahara. After a first session of negotiations at the United States embassy in Madrid, Massad Boulos, Donald Trump's envoy for Africa, met in Washington on February 23 and 24 with all the parties involved: Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, the Polisario Front, as well as Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy.

Although little information has emerged about these two closed-door meetings, the United States' objective is clear: to definitively close the dispute that is poisoning relations between Rabat and Algiers based on the Moroccan autonomy plan.

Western Sahara is claimed by both Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), proclaimed by the Polisario Front in 1976. The latter pursues full independence for the territory, a claim supported by Algeria.

With an extension of 40 pages, the plan foresees the creation of an autonomous region equipped with a government, a parliament and a judicial system with its own powers. Morocco, for its part, would maintain control of sovereign powers: currency, defense, foreign policy and symbols of sovereignty, such as the flag or the anthem.

The document also includes a section dedicated to “reconciliation” and the return of the populations, in particular the refugees from the camps managed by the independence supporters of the Polisario Front. According to the text, combatants would benefit from an “amnesty,” although crimes contemplated by international law would be excluded.

Since 1975 and Rabat's annexation of much of the territory, nearly 180,000 Sahrawis survive in precarious conditions in camps—among the oldest in Africa—near the Algerian city of Tindouf.

By imposing this plan presented in Madrid as the only basis for discussion, the Trump administration de facto buries the self-determination referendum project planned by the UN and demanded for decades by the Polisario Front, with the support of Algeria. The autonomy proposed by Morocco is not conceived as a stage towards independence, but as a definitive solution, highlights the independent media 'Orient XXI'.

“Valuable help” from Algeria

This diplomatic sequence confirms a dynamic that is especially favorable to Rabat. At the end of October, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2797, which validates the Moroccan initiative as “the basis of a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the conflict” in Western Sahara. Before that, the United States and then France recognized Morocco's sovereignty over this vast desert region of 266,000 km².

Morocco and the United States maintain very close diplomatic and military ties. King Mohammed VI was one of the first heads of state to join the US president's Peace Council as a permanent member. The main buyer of US military equipment in Africa, Rabat has just celebrated 250 years of a smooth bilateral relationship.

However, despite this historical proximity, the Trump Administration rejects any partiality in these negotiations. “We are currently acting under the umbrella of resolution 2797 and what I can say is that Algeria provides valuable help and behaves as an excellent partner, at least as it has always been with the current Trump administration,” says Massad Boulos in an interview with France 24.

In reality, Algeria could have come under strong American pressure to come to the negotiating table, according to Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa director of the International Crisis Group. Washington particularly weighs the threat of sanctions against Algiers due to the purchase of Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighters. Another sword of Damocles over Algeria is a bill currently being studied in the US Congress to classify the Polisario as a terrorist organization.

“Algeria has also calculated that participating in these negotiations is a way to continue cultivating good relations with an essential partner at a time when Algiers is quite isolated after a series of diplomatic crises with France, Morocco, Mali and Spain,” analyzes the expert.

A framework agreement planned for spring

Behind the scenes, Algeria continues to express its disagreement with the Moroccan plan, in particular over the method of appointing the next regional executive of Western Sahara. Rabat wants him to be appointed and invested by King Mohamed VI, while the Polisario Front demands that he be elected. The question of specific taxation for the region also stirs up the debate.

Another point of friction: the integration of a region with some type of autonomy would imply a modification of the Moroccan Constitution through a referendum. However, Rabat intends for the entire Moroccan electoral body to participate in it, and not only the populations of the Sahara, notes Jeune Afrique.

Furthermore, the central question of self-determination remains unresolved. "For Algeria and the Polisario, self-determination is equivalent to giving the Sahrawi people the possibility of choosing between autonomy, integration or, above all, independence. And that is something that the Moroccans are totally opposed to, and I doubt that Algiers will be flexible on this point," indicates Riccardo Fabiani.

Finally, beyond these legal considerations, the dilution of the Sahrawi identity, deprived of a flag and anthem, constitutes a new cause of tension between the parties.

“The Polisario Front aspires to the highest degree of autonomy possible, but its room for maneuver in the negotiations seems limited, in particular due to the Moroccan-American rapprochement,” summarizes political scientist Khadija Mohsen Fannan, interviewed by France 24 in Arabic.

For its part, Washington seems determined to move forward quickly. According to several media, the signing of a framework agreement is already contemplated for the spring. “President Trump has been involved in this file since his first term,” says Massad Boulos, recalling that in 2020 the United States recognized Rabat's sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel.

“American enthusiasm for Western Sahara remains quite mysterious,” estimates Riccardo Fabiani. "One of the explanations has to do with the exploitation of the territory's mining resources. The other would be related to a competition between Trump's special envoys to offer him agreements and reinforce his image as a man of peace."

*This article was adapted from its original in French

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