Bir Lehlou (Sahrawi Republic), 7 May 2026 (SPS) — The Frente POLISARIO has expressed “grave concern” regarding the visit by the U.S. Ambassador to Morocco, Duke Buchan III, to the city of Dajla in Occupied Western Sahara, describing this move as a violation of the international status of Western Sahara as a Territory that is subject to a decolonization process under the responsibility of the United Nations.
In a Press Release issued by the Ministry of Foreign and African Affairs, the Frente POLISARIO affirmed that this visit does not contribute to creating the necessary conditions for the success of the ongoing talks, which are held under the joint auspices of the United Nations and the United States, but rather negatively affects trust and the entire peace process.
The Frente POLISARIO underscored that the 1991 ceasefire is no longer in effect because of Morocco’s violation of the agreement in November 2020; it recalled the legitimacy of the Sahrawi people’s struggle for self-determination and independence in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions, and held the Moroccan occupation—along with its allies within the Security Council—responsible for prolonging the conflict and jeopardizing regional peace and security.
The full text of the statement is as follows:
SAHRAWI ARAB DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AND AFRICAN AFFAIRS
PRESS RELEASE
The Frente POLISARIO views with grave concern the visit paid recently by the U.S. Ambassador to Morocco, Mr. Duke Buchan III, to the city of Dajla (Dakhla) in Occupied Western Sahara.
The Frente POLISARIO strongly condemns this move because it constitutes a violation of the international status of Western Sahara as a Territory that is subject to a decolonization process under the responsibility of the United Nations. It also infringes on the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, whitewashes an illegal occupation and emboldens Morocco, the occupying state, to pursue its attempts to forcibly impose a fait accompli in Occupied Western Sahara.
Apart from its political and symbolic nature, the visit is in no way conducive to creating the climate needed for maintaining trust in the ongoing discussions on Western Sahara facilitated by both the United Nations and the United States of America. Moreover, it contradicts the goal of constructive engagement by all stakeholders and therefore negatively affects the broader peace process.
Notwithstanding the positions taken by the Government of the United States over the past years, the Frente POLISARIO has—until now—cooperated in good faith with the U.S. efforts to relaunch the peace process in Western Sahara. However, it has not expected that the U.S. would take this unfriendly action that serves only to encourage Morocco, the occupying state, to exhibit greater intransigence and block all avenues leading to a just and lasting solution.
To uphold our shared commitment to the peace process, the Frente POLISARIO hopes that such actions be ceased for the sake of building trust and allowing the current momentum to continue.
On a related issue, the Frente POLISARIO underscores that since Morocco, the occupying state, breached, with complete impunity, the 1991 ceasefire and related military agreements on 13 November 2020, there is currently no ceasefire agreement in effect between the Sahrawi Army and Morocco’s occupying forces.
The Frente POLISARIO would have liked to see the same voices rise to condemn the Moroccan occupying forces that, since 2020, have been using all sorts of lethal weapons, including UAVs, to callously kill dozens of innocent civilians not only from Western Sahara, but also from Algeria, Mauritania and nationals of other countries while in transit through the Liberated Sahrawi Territories.
The Frente POLISARIO underlines that the legitimacy of the resistance and struggle of colonized peoples against colonialism and occupation, as is the case with the struggle waged by the Sahrawi people against Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara, is well-established and upheld by the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.
It is important to recall in this context UN General Assembly resolution 2983 (XXVIII) of 14 December 1972, which reaffirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of colonial peoples and its solidarity with, and support for, Sahrawi people in the struggle they were waging in order to exercise their right to self-determination and independence, and requested all States to give them all necessary moral and material support in that struggle.
It is equally important to recall UN General Assembly resolution 34/37 of 21 November 1979, which reaffirmed the inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and independence, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the charter of the Organization of African Unity and the objectives of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), and the legitimacy of their struggle to secure the enjoyment of that right, as envisaged in the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the Organization ofAfrican Unity.
Indeed, the conflict has lasted for over 50 years precisely because of Morocco’s continued occupation of Western Sahara and because of the complicity of its allies within the Security Council that are equally responsible for prolonging the suffering of the Sahrawi people and jeopardizing regional peace and security.
Bir Lehlou, 7 May 2026
