UN envoy proposes Western Sahara partition plan

The U.N. envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, has floated the idea of dividing the territory between Morocco and the Polisario front as a solution to the near five-decades-old dispute, according to remarks seen by Reuters.

The long-frozen conflict, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco, which considers Western Sahara its own territory, against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front independence movement, which seeks a separate state there.

Morocco says autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the most it can offer as a political solution to the conflict, while the armed Polisario Front insists on the holding of a referendum with independence as an option.

In a briefing to the Security Council behind closed doors on Wednesday, de Mistura, a veteran Italian diplomat, said that partition "could allow for the creation on the one hand of an independent state in the southern part, and on the other hand the integration of the rest of the Territory as part of Morocco, with its sovereignty over it internationally recognized."

Neither Morocco nor the Polisario Front accepted the proposal, De Mistura said in the briefing.

The U.N. Secretary General should reconsider the usefulness of his role as an envoy if no progress was made in six months, de Mistura said.

The U.N. Security Council has been calling in its resolutions on the parties to work together towards a mutually acceptable political solution to the conflict, while describing Morocco's autonomy plan as "serious and credible".

As Morocco's autonomy plan gains traction at the bilateral level, de Mistura on Wednesday urged Rabat to "explain and expand" its proposal.

In July, France became the second permanent Security Council member after the U.S. to back Morocco's sovereignty over the territory.

Algeria reacted to the French position by recalling its ambassador to Paris. Western Sahara has been at the heart of disagreements between Morocco and Algeria.

Spain, the former colonial power in Western Sahara, said in 2022 it backs Morocco's autonomy plan. Arab monarchies and Israel also back Morocco's sovereignty over the territory, where 29 mostly African and Arab countries have opened consulates in what Rabat sees as tangible support.

The Polisario in 2020 withdrew from a UN-brokered truce. But the conflict remains of low-intensity.