US to host new Washington talks on Moroccan Sahara dispute

The United States will host a new round of negotiations on the Moroccan Sahara conflict on Feb. 23–24, diplomatic sources told Spanish newspaper el Confidencial.

Masad Boulos, special envoy for Africa under President Donald Trump, is leading the U.S. effort to reach a political settlement based on Morocco’s autonomy proposal.

This will be the third high-level meeting in just one month. Previous sessions were held in Washington in late January and in Madrid two weeks ago.

All meetings brought together Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and U.S. officials, with Ambassador Michael Waltz representing Washington at the United Nations.

Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita will participate, along with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf and representatives of other parties.

The Polisario Front did not participate in Madrid, and Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares met individually with other parties.

The talks focus on Morocco’s updated 40-page autonomy plan, which grants the southern provinces powers over health, education, culture, local taxes, and urban planning while keeping defense, foreign policy, currency, and security under central government control. Regional leaders would be appointed by royal decree as representatives of the state.

The plan was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council in October through Resolution 2797, calling it the “most viable solution” for the region.

U.S. diplomats are pressing all sides to engage realistically and to remove remaining obstacles. Boulos, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said the negotiation process is on the right track and expressed optimism that a final agreement could be reached before summer.

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. secretary-general’s envoy for Moroccan Sahara, will also attend, although the UN’s role remains limited. European countries, including France and Spain, are largely sidelined in the process.

U.S. mediation aims to finalize procedural details for implementing Moroccan autonomy, provide democratic management for the region, and enable refugees in Tindouf camps to return home.