Boosted by Western support, Morocco is working to impose its own settlement in the long-running Western Sahara conflict, even at the cost of a falling out with its allies, analysts say.
Morocco and the Polisario Front, an independence movement backed by the kingdom's arch-rival Algeria, have been locked for decades in a bitter struggle over Western Sahara.The monarchy sees the former Spanish colony as an integral part of its territory, with King Mohammed declaring in November that"Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara will never be up for negotiation".
"There is a consensus on the question of the Sahara. The whole of society supports the cause, it's an absolute priority for every Moroccan," said Tajeddine Houssaini, professor of international relations at Rabat's Mohammed V University. Madrid, whose enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla share land borders with Morocco, now officially sees the autonomy plan as"the most serious, realistic and credible basis" for a resolution.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Morocco this week, also described the autonomy plan as"serious, credible and realistic".Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita urged European states on Tuesday to follow Spain's lead and"get out of this comfort zone where people are just supporting a process supporting a solution".
She said Morocco was making itself"indispensable" to the West by leveraging"migration, airspace, security and the fight against Islamism".
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