This came in an article published by "the Middle East Times" on Monday and signed by former U.S. diplomats, Thomas a. Nassif, Michael Ussery, Frederick Vreeland, Marc Ginsberg, and Margaret Tutwiler.

    Voicing hope that the appointment of a new special envoy of the United Nations Secretary General to the Sahara will "hopefully continue the momentum of the current negotiations process to end the three decades old conflict," the former ambassadors underlined that "as former U.S. ambassadors to Morocco who closely follow U.S. policy in the region, we were encouraged by the recent significant shift in how the U.S. administration addresses this long-standing conflict."

    "Over the past months, the U.S. government publicly, and on several occasions, acknowledged that compromise, in the form of autonomy for the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty, is the only viable and realistic solution," they wrote.

    "This new development creates real possibilities for ending the conflict in the Sahara, which, they went on, has contributed to significant economic and political instability in North Africa. This compromise did not appear by chance. Determined to end this conflict +from a long-gone era+, as described by Morocco's King Muhammad VI, Morocco has compromised its long-established position for integrating the Sahara by offering broad-ranging autonomy consistent with international standards for self-determination."

    Considering that "this opening enabled the Security Council to sponsor negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict and ending the humanitarian crisis for the tens of thousands of refugees held in camps around Tindouf in southwest Algeria," the former ambassadors also recalled that "since April 2007, when Morocco presented its compromise proposal, the UN has mediated four rounds of negotiations between the parties, which have shown promise, but little progress."

    "At the conclusion of the fourth round of negotiations, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and his personal envoy Peter van Walsum briefed the U.N. Security Council on the status of the negotiations, after which the members unanimously opted for +realism+ rather than prolonging the stalemate that has existed for more than 30 years," they pinpointed.

    The United States played a significant role in this sea change, according to the former ambassadors, who underlined that recalled that the U.S. government agreed, in its statmet, with Mr. Van Walsum's assessment that an independent Sahrawi state is not a realistic option for resolving the conflict and that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution."

    “This position and its subsequent elaboration by U.S. State Department and White House officials represent an enormous step forward in engaging the parties to finally resolve the Western Sahara conflict,” they said, noting that “this shift in U.S. policy, and the appointment of a new UNSG special envoy to the Sahara, may provide the impetus for overcoming the challenges that have bedeviled the U.N.'s efforts to date.”   

    The five former diplomats, who recalled that the Congress has also strongly endorsed Morocco's compromise initiative, stressed that “ending the Sahara conflict makes sense for the parties themselves, the refugees, and U.S. national interests” as “resolving this conflict would clear the way for greater economic cooperation among the five countries of the Maghreb, which is long overdue.”

    They also noted that “the increase in terrorist activities in the region can be combated effectively be combated effectively only through transnational strategies based on greater cooperation between Morocco and Algeria.”

    “Algeria, they explained, must be strongly encouraged to support this U.S. policy shift to support our mutual interests in the region. And giving the refugees the opportunities for normal lives, a return to their families, and an end to the isolation of the refugee camps is a goal that should be achieved sooner rather than later.”

    “This change in U.S. policy and the support of the Security Council bring resolution of the Western Sahara conflict into the realm of the likely, we should not let this real chance for peace be squandered,” the former ambassadors said.