In Algeria, US Deputy Secretary voices concern over Polisario escalation

During an interview with an Algerian media outlet, State Department’s Joshua Harris, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, reaffirmed that Washington is backing the autonomy plan in the southern regions.

The official “condemned” the operations that target people in reference to the Smara terrorist operation by Polisario.

The US Embassy in Algeria released an interview with Harris summarizing some of the critical points of his second visit to the area. This included America’s “concern” about the Polisario Front’s escalation since it declared a ceasefire alongside the Royal Armed Forces’ 2020 liberation of the Guerguerat crossing.

The American official stressed that “the return to military actions has become, since the ceasefire in 2020, worrying and increasing the situation’s complexity. My government is deeply concerned about military activities that take us further from the political process.”

Harris stated that “America is serious about using its influence to enable the United Nations to reach a solution” after acknowledging that the previous envoys’  attempts to end the  conflict “were not successful up to the present.” 

This suggests that America has shifted its focus from using public venues to resolve the situation to using its closed equivalent.

 Harris stressed the “realism and seriousness” of Morocco’s autonomy proposal as a potential means of “meeting the aspirations of the population,” disclosing that the purpose of his visit back to Algeria was to talk about how to take concrete steps to ensure the success of the political process at the UN, which is thought to support autonomy and calls for Algeria to return to the negotiation table, as per the Secretary-General António Guterres’ report.

In his answer to the question: “Secession, autonomy, or consideration of a third solution,” the American official stressed that it requires creativity, pragmatism, and realism.

In response, international relations specialist Mohamed Nachtaoui told Hespress AR that Harris “has made clear and direct statements that carry new calls from Washington for the Mouradiyah Palace to return to the negotiating table to hold it responsible for the escalation led by its Polisario organization.”

Noting that the statements constitute a request to Algeria to regulate the operations of the armed front, which poses a threat to the region, Nachtaoui continued, “The official’s visit to Algeria alone is very significant, given that the Polisario Front cannot take any action without obtaining the approval of Algeria.”

The international relations specialist adds that Harris also mentioned “the importance of the autonomy proposal as a realistic, serious, and credible solution.” According to the expert, this indicates that America is trying to persuade Algeria to accept this idea through this visit.

Additionally, Al Housain Guennoun, a political analyst, said that “Harris’s visit also shows that Algeria is a main party in the fabricated Sahara conflict, and that Polisario is a terrorist organization in its hands.”

The visit, in Guennoun’s opinion, is further evidence that the idea of autonomy is an appropriate way of resolving the issue and that there is, in fact, a real disagreement between Morocco and Algeria.

The same political analyst explained, “These statements demonstrate the extent to which the American states continue to approach resolving the conflict according to the autonomy initiative because it is the only possible solution at the negotiating table.”

“The visit of any American official to Algeria always follows this approach, meaning that the American policy has a clear consensus on how to resolve this long-standing conflict,” he concluded.