Devised by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (PIPS) and the Conflict Management Program of the Johns Hopkins University, the report called for a resolution to the Sahara conflict based on the proposal of autonomy within Moroccan sovereignty.
Entitled "Why the Maghreb matters", the report stressed that the US administration considers the autonomy plan as "the only realistic option," to solve the Sahara issue.
It added that the proposal which is now on the table at the United Nations (UN) is supported by a bipartisan consensus in the US Congress.
In a bid to solve the dispute over The Sahara, Morocco submitted in 2007 an autonomy plan for the territory, which allows the local population to democratically run its own affairs.
While the Algerian-backed Polisario separatists call for the independence of the Sahara, Morocco says autonomy under its sovereignty is the sole possible solution to the conflict.
The autonomy plan has triggered four rounds of UN-brokered talks between Morocco, Algeria and the Polisario.
“As the Obama administration considers its priorities in the Middle East and North Africa, it is critical to break the habit of viewing the region as composed of a number of separate countries of secondary national interest,” for Washington, the report said. It added that the Maghreb countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania) represents vital interests for the United States, from supplying energy and economic opportunity to removing a growing terrorist presence with real potential for threatening American lives and facilities.
The document also urged the United States and its allies “to bring pressure to bear on the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR)” to ensure that the population in Tindouf camps under Polisario control in western Algeria “enjoys the rights guaranteed them under international refugee law, especially with regard to freedom of movement, the right to documentation, the right to voluntary repatriation, and the right to free association.”
According to the report, regional integration in North Africa “will support a range of US interests that are central to the strategic pursuit of the region’s stability, security, and economic goals.”
However, regional integration cannot be realized without resolving the Sahara conflict, the report said. It added that “the plat form is in place to move proactively and successfully to bring an end to that conflict, to increase counterterrorism cooperation, and effectively to encourage regional economic integration that will bring greater prosperity and opportunity to the peoples of the Maghreb and greater security for US interests.”
The report said that “the US can help broker resolution of the Western Sahara conflict, which is the major obstacle to regional integration and the central impediment to effective coordination of efforts to combat terrorism, illegal immigration, smuggling, drug trafficking, and to promote economic cooperation and other regional initiatives.”
The Sahara conflict is not “low hanging fruit waiting to be picked. Algeria continues to insist that the Sahara issue will never be settled on terms or a timetable other than one of Algeria’s choosing,” according to the same source.
“Nevertheless, the report went on, if the US provides active leadership and works closely with its European allies, there are good prospects for creating an environment for action toward a solution based on the compromise expressed in the UN favored sovereignty/ autonomy formula, which is the only compromise solution on the negotiating table.”
“Such a leadership role on the part of the United States would benefit the Maghreb and the interests of the US as well,” the report stressed. It added that “successive US administrations have declared that the only feasible solution is to be found in the autonomy compromise.”
These administrations, both Democrat and Republican, have made a clear policy choice to promote a compromise political solution through a formula granting a large measure of autonomy for the region, under Moroccan sovereignty, the report said. It also recalled that “a bipartisan consensus in the US Congress has endorsed the policy choice and has openly urged the US Government to pursue this path more vigorously.”
The same source stressed that whatever the outcome of the fifth round of UN-sponsored negotiations between the parties, “the US should pursue an effort among Security Council members to recognize autonomous status within Morocco and invite others to follow suit.”
Any solution must also include Algeria and special efforts should be made in this direction so that the country (Algeria) cannot “find ways to oppose the United States, Morocco and the economic integration initiatives,” the report insisted.
“Although Algeria is important to the US for its oil and gas supplies, this fact should not be allowed to block a positive outcome for the Western Sahara conflict,” it added.
“A common position and firm hand at the back by the US, UK, France, Spain (and Italy) on autonomy, including encouraging both Algeria and Morocco to enter negotiations with a positive and forthcoming spirit and seek win-win solutions, will set the right tone for productive talks,” said the same source.
The report, approved by several US personalities, was presented at a press conference in the presence of a panel of foreign policy experts including former members of the U.S. government, ambassadors and academics.
Source: MAP
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