In a Thursday letter, a bipartisan group of more than two dozen congress members urged Biden to reverse the “misguided” decision by former US President Donald Trump to recognize Morocco’s long standing claim to rule Western Sahara. The recognition by the US administration of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara on December 10, does not change its status in the United Nations system as … While the Trump administration’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara is a big victory for the North African kingdom, experts say the move is … It calls the territories under its control the "Liberated Territories". The 27 senators who signed the letter sent to Biden on February 17 urged the president to reverse the US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. Washington is reconsidering former President Donald Trump's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, the chargé d'affaires at the US embassy in Spain has said. Photos: Western Sahara’s Polisario Front Continues to Fight Morocco After Trump Recognition Deal Mauritania Claims Troops Fired on by Morocco in Western Sahara Border Skirmish Day After Joint Talks Morocco to Open Official Diplomatic Mission in Israel in 2 Weeks, Senior Israeli Official Says The Trump administration’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara is a major and unfortunate change in long-standing U.S. … What consequences such recognition will have on what is essentially a conflict in limbo is unclear. Recognition of Western Sahara MOROCCO/US: Western Sahara recognition is Morocco win Stay up to date Sign up to the Expert Daily Briefings email alert and receive up-to-the-minute analysis of global events as they happen. On Dec. 10, Morocco scored a long-dreamed-of foreign policy victory. The recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara is not a radical departure from prior U.S. policy; rather, it is a prudent development of it. Morocco has controlled the area since the 1970s but there has been an opposition movement to Morocco’s rule. "I condemn Trump’s unilateral recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco’s diplomatic recognition of Israel," McCollum wrote on Twitter on … The step of the United States ’recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara by the former US administration has sparked a heated argument between opposing voices (John Bolton, Stephen Zones, R. Joseph Huddleston, Harshana Ghoorhoo, Daniela A. Maquera Sardon) and supportive opinions of this step (Bennis, Haddaoui), arguing whether … The deal is a clear quid pro quo – Morocco’s recognition of Israel has been traded for the US becoming the first country to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. In the case of Morocco, the US issued a proclamation, recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, making it the first country in the world to do so. If one weighs Western Sahara's importance for Washington against Morocco's value as a strategic ally, the balance undoubtedly favours Morocco. Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated area of mostly desert situated on the northwest coast of Africa. After decades of international impasse and intense lobbying, the United States recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara territory, which Morocco has occupied since 1975. The December 2020 announcement by the United States that it recognizes the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara, now Moroccan Sahara, offers a case in point. After considering Western Sahara’s history as a colonized and occupied territory, the prospect of peace and recognition seems long overdue. By Moulay.Boubkir Hamdani. In the last months of 2020, Israel normalized its ties with four Arab countries. More than two dozen US senators from both major parties have called on President Joe Biden to reverse Washington's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara - a … The United Nations and the majority of the world does not recognize Moroccan claims of sovereignty over the territory. A former Spanish colony, it was annexed … As part of the deal, Mr Trump recognised Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara. Several states that do not recognise the Sahrawi Republic nonetheless recognize the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the population of the Western Sahara, but not as the government-in-exile for a … Western Sahara is a disputed non-self-governing territory in northwest Africa.It is sandwiched between Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the south and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The colonial history of Africa is often seen as distant and completely resolved but the Sahrawi people still feel the consequences of Western … The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on 27 February 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara.SADR claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony; however, at present the SADR government controls only about 20–25% of the territory it claims. Of these, 45 have "frozen" or "withdrawn" recognition for a number of reasons. After the Polisario decided to work with Iran, an equivalent move of recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara … The quid pro quo of Morocco recognizing Israel in exchange for US recognition of its sovereignty over Western Sahara reportedly also includes an arms deal and a promised $3 billion investment in tourism, banking and renewable energy projects. In return of US recognition of its rights over Western Sahara, Morocco has agreed to “normalize” its relations with Israel. As of 1990, the SADR had garnered the recognition of over 80 countries . US plans to open a consulate in Western Sahara marks a turning point for the disputed territory. This discrepancy will push the US administration to carefully consider the value of any decision that harms Morocco's interests, and will … The territory is contested by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front based in Algeria. Strangely enough, withdrawals of recognition have been a ever-present feature of the conflict in Western Sahara. After Syria hosted Iranian proxy forces in large numbers, the US issued a proclamation in March 2019 recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The agreement is a win for Israel, and also for Morocco. The trade-off in this case is US recognition of the Western Sahara as part of Morocco. The highly anticipated trip came a month after Trump announced in a tweet that the United States had recognised Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara in … Gaining international recognition for its claim to Western Sahara has long been Morocco's most important diplomatic ambition, and the UAE, Bahrain and …