The United States of America announced the visit of Michele Sison, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, to Algeria and Morocco, on January 21 and 26.
The office of the US State Department Spokesperson stated, in a statement obtained by Hespress AR, that the visit will discuss “common multilateral priorities across the United Nations system, with a focus on the importance of human rights, especially with the accession of Morocco and Algeria to the United Nations Human Rights Council.”
During her visit to Algeria and Morocco, the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs will meet with senior government officials, UN representatives and civil society leaders.
Michele Sison will “emphasize, in its meetings, the United States’ support for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in the Sahara (MINURSO) and the efforts of Staffan de Mistura, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in leading the United Nations political process in the desert.”
The Assistant Secretary of State will also talk about advocating for the two American candidates: Sarah Cleveland, the candidate for the International Court of Justice, and Amy Pope, the candidate for Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, according to the official source.
This comes after tensions spiral between Morocco and Algeria.
The United Nations has been seeking a settlement in Western Sahara since the withdrawal of Spain in 1976 and the ensuing fighting between Morocco, which had reintegrated the Territory, though the Polisario Front remains supported by Algeria. (Mauritania renounced all claims to Western Sahara in 1979.) In 1979, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) also became active in seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict.
The administration of former US president Donald Trump recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara. Emboldened by that support, Rabat has stepped towards other countries to back its position.
The Polisario is holding its 16th congress under the slogan “stepping up the campaign to make the occupier withdraw and to impose total sovereignty” in the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
The conferees of the Sixteenth Congress re-elected Brahim Ghali as Secretary-General of the Polisario Front for a three-year term.
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