Algeria’s New President Challenges Morocco’s Claim to Western Sahara

Facing the press on January 23, 2020, the Algerian president did not mince his words in supporting the Polisario Front. According to Tebboune, the Sahara is a decolonization issue that falls under the power of the United Nations and the African Union.

Not surprisingly, the Algerian president clearly renewed his position and that of his government on the conflict. A few days earlier, on January 12, the Algerian head of state had expressed this position in a letter addressed to the Polisario Front, in particular to the Secretary General of the Front, Ibrahim Ghali, following his re-election.

Moreover, six countries have recently opened general consulates in the cities of Laâyoune and Dakhla, to mark their support for Morocco’s territorial integrity.

Unanimously, the Polisario and Algeria had considered this decision as "a new violation of the norms of international law, the relevant decisions and resolutions of the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly, relating to the Western Sahara issue".