The saharawi women would like to express their happiness that the new american administration is supporting a just and lasting solutions to the Western Sahara conflict and see it as a problem of decolonization. We have seen several international media articles reporting about the Obama´s administration position on the issue of Western Sahara.One of these journalists,Tim Kustusch, reports:
In his first official mention of the Western Saharan conflict since taking office in January, U.S. President Barack Obama voiced his support for United Nations-sponsored negotiations as the appropriate road towards the resolution of the 35-year-old conflict in the Western Sahara. The President’s pronouncement came in an official letter written to King Mohammed VI of Morocco as reported in the Maghreb Arabe Press Service (MAP), the official Moroccan news agency, on Friday.While Obama’s letter was primarily dedicated to encouraging the Moroccan monarch to further his Kingdom’s role in “bridging gaps between Israel and the Arab world”, the U.S. President also raised the issue of the Western Sahara in his memo.“I share your commitment to the UN-led negotiations as the appropriate forum to achieve a mutually acceptable solution,” the President stated in his letter, “and I trust that Christopher Ross, a proven diplomat with extensive experience in the region, will be able to promote constructive dialogue between the two parties.”The President referred to the recently appointed UN Special Envoy to the Western Sahara Christopher Ross, a U.S. diplomat with experience in both Morocco and Algeria. Mr. Ross, who just finished a several months-long tour of the region, has received UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s blessing for his proposal to bring representatives from the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front – the leaders of the Saharawis’ movement for an independent Western Sahara – together for informal negotiations.President Obama went on to stress that while he supports the UN’s efforts in the conflict, the U.S. government would not remain on the sidelines as it has done for the past 35 years.“My government will work with yours and other in the region to achieve an outcome that meets the people’s need for transparent governance, confidence in the rule of law, and equal administration of justice,” Obama stated in the letter.President Obama refused to step on King Mohammed’s toes, however, by recognizing “the importance that the Western Saharan issue carries for you, your Kingdom, and all of the people that have suffered because of this conflict.”A break with the pastWhile this declaration does not offer insight into the U.S. Administration’s support for either the Polisario Front or the Kingdom of Morocco – the only two UN-recognized sides to the Western Saharan conflict – it is significant in that the leader of the United States government did not specifically voice his support for Morocco’s autonomy proposal.In 2007, both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front presented proposals to the United Nations, outlining their plans for an acceptable resolution to the conflict.The Moroccan proposal called for a referendum for the Saharawi people with autonomy under the Kingdom as the only option. According to international law and the UN Charter, such a referendum – one that does not offer the previously colonized Saharawis the option of independence – would be illegal. Nonetheless, in the final years of former President George W. Bush’s Administration, the US Department of State supported the Moroccan proposal as a “realistic solution” to the decades-old dispute.Now, it appears that the U.S. government will be taking a slightly different approach, encouraging the UN to fulfil its duty of decolonizing the last colony in Africa by the holding of a free and fair referendum on independence, as stipulated by the UN Charter and resolutions by both the UN Security Council and General Assembly.A new hope?A new U.S. approach to the issue was predicted last May by U.S. Congressman Donald Payne, the chair of the House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. In a press conference in Madrid, Spain, the congressman suggested that a change in policy might be on its way.“I am not a representative of the Obama Administration… [and] I am not prepared to try to predict the change in U.S. policy, but I can assure you that President Obama is a person that listens and a person who is very concerned about human rights,” offered Representative Payne. “You can certainly expect a different approach to the issue.”The President’s letter comes at a time when increasing attention is being given to the Western Saharan conflict in both Washington-based think tanks and the U.S. Congress. These institutions view the peaceful settlement of the dispute as the only means to improving regional integration, and thus security and economic development, in the North African region.The Moroccan monarch responded to President Obama with his own message, ensuring that Mohammed VI’s kingdom is ready “to work jointly with your friendly country towards establishing peace, security and stability in the world and to contribute to the international efforts aimed at peacefully resolving conflicts, spreading the values of freedom, justice, and human rights.”
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