James Baker blasts US recognition of Moroccan claims to Western Sahara

In a statement last week, the White House said, “Morocco’s autonomy plan is the only realistic way to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the dispute over Western Sahara.”

But the move has been criticized for destabilizing the situation in decades-long conflict.

Much of the Western Sahara – formerly Spanish territory – has been in operation since Morocco invaded in 1975, while the self-proclaimed Zahravi controls a small part of the Arab Democratic Republic. Negotiations between the two sides have been embroiled in a diplomatic stalemate for decades, with the United Nations demanding some sort of self-determination for the Sahrawi people.

Baker said acknowledging Morocco’s claim would further erode any confidence in the talks and could affect US alliances in the region. He specifically pointed to Algeria, which supports the Sahrawi Polisario Front and is Morocco’s main rival in the MacRae. Algeria is a key US strategic partner in North Africa, Baker points out.

“The Trump administration’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara is a major and unfortunate change in long – standing U.S. policy under Democratic and Republican administrations,” Baker wrote. “The mixing of the Abrahamic Pact with the Western Sahara conflict does not strengthen or extend the treaty, as it is clearly and undoubtedly an issue of self-determination.”

Baker served as Secretary of State from 1989 to 1992 under President George W. Bush. General Secretary Ambassador to Western Sahara soon.

Baker was not the only one to condemn the move to step down from the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union. Sen. Jim Inhof (R-Okla.) Condemned the move Last week, he said he saw the policy change as “shocking and deeply disappointing”. “We regret that the rights of the people of Western Sahara are being traded,” Inhof said.

And former National Security Adviser John Bolton The decision was blocked On Tuesday, he called on President-elect Joe Biden to change that.

“Trump’s decision to put the Sahrawi people under the bus gives the United States three decades of support for their right to self-determination through a vote of the Sahrawi people about the future of the region,” Bolton said. Wrote In foreign policy.