WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Thursday it began the process to set up a US consulate in Western Sahara, after President Donald Trump’s administration this month recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the region.
In a departure from longstanding US policy, Washington agreed to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, a desert region where a decades-old territorial dispute has pitted Morocco against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state.
The recognition was part of a US-brokered deal in which Morocco became the fourth Arab country after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan to normalize ties with Israel in the past four months.
“Effective immediately, we are inaugurating a virtual presence post for Western Sahara, with a focus on promoting economic and social development, to be followed soon by a fully functioning consulate,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
“This virtual presence post will be managed by the US Embassy in Rabat,” Pompeo said, adding that Washington would be continuing to support political negotiations to resolve the issues between Morocco and the Polisario within the framework of Morocco’s autonomy plan.
Washington’s support for Moroccan sovereignty over the desert territory represents the biggest policy concession the United States has made so far in its quest to win Arab recognition of Israel.
The series of normalization deals have been driven in part by US-led efforts to present a united front against Iran and roll back Tehran’s regional influence.
President-elect Joe Biden, due to succeed Trump on Jan. 20, will face a decision whether to accept the US deal on the Western Sahara, which no other Western nation has done. Western nations and the UN have long called for a referendum to resolve the dispute.
Pompeo says US has started work to set up consulate in Western Sahara
https://arab.news/cs5yp
Pompeo says US has started work to set up consulate in Western Sahara
- Washington agreed to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara
- The recognition was part of a deal in which Morocco became the fourth Arab country to normalize ties with Israel
Israeli strike kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say, the latest deaths as truce stalls
Israeli strike kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say, the latest deaths as truce stalls
- Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect on Oct. 10
- The military said the person they killed was a militant and had posed a threat to troops
GAZA CITY: An Israeli strike on Thursday killed at least two Palestinians and wounded five others east of Gaza City, according to Fadel Naeem, director of Al-Ahli Hospital, where the casualties arrived.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect on Oct. 10. The escalating Palestinian toll has prompted many in Gaza to say it feels like the war has continued unabated.
Separately, Israel’s military said Thursday that soldiers in southern Gaza had killed a Palestinian who had crossed the line dividing the Israeli-held area of the strip from the area most Palestinians are crammed into. Such shootings have become a common occurrence in the territory since the ceasefire took hold.
The military said the person they killed was a militant and had posed a threat to troops. It maintains that claim when describing most cases of Palestinians shot down in the vicinity of the line, even though some civilians have been killed, including young children, said a military official who spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity in line with military rules.
