On Sunday evening in Algiers, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf held talks with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, which focused on the latest developments related to the regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara. This coincided with the launch of the twelfth session of the “Oran Process” on peace and security in Africa, on which Algeria is relying to salvage what remains of its diplomatic presence on the continent.

According to a statement from the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides reviewed the security challenges facing the African continent and their impact on peacekeeping missions, in addition to discussing the future of the UN system in light of rapid geopolitical shifts. The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss the status of UN missions in the region, given their pivotal role in conflict zones.

The Frenchman Jean-Pierre Lacroix oversees all peacekeeping missions deployed around the world, including the United Nations Mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which remains within his operational and administrative responsibilities. This oversight also involves monitoring the field challenges facing the mission, ensuring its working conditions, evaluating its performance, and submitting technical reports to the Secretary-General, within the framework of monitoring its tasks and the stability of its environment.

Although the political track of the conflict rests with the Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, Lacroix's discussions with Algerian officials focus on monitoring the MINURSO mission's status and deployment, including potential changes that could affect its field operations. Through these visits, the United Nations aims to ensure that the mission's work remains aligned with the surrounding security environment, particularly in light of recent developments within the Security Council that have effectively made Algeria a direct party to the fabricated conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.

international pressure

Commenting on this meeting, Aba Ali Aba Sheikh, a member of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, said that Algeria’s exploitation of Jean-Pierre Lacroix’s presence at the Oran meeting on peace and security in Africa to hold talks concerning the MINURSO mission raises many questions about the background of this move and its true objectives.

Aba Ali added, in a statement to Hespress, that Algeria, which does not participate in UN peacekeeping missions and does not contribute to their military or civilian structure, nevertheless seeks to appear at the forefront of the debate related to MINURSO’s work, at a time when Morocco is among the largest contributors to UN missions spread across the world, especially African ones, and enjoys widespread appreciation from various parties for the professionalism and commitment that characterize its personnel.

The Sahrawi advisor explained that the United Nations is facing major challenges due to the reduction in financial support allocated to peacekeeping missions, which has led to the termination or reduction of the missions of a number of them, after the United States, as the largest funder, refused to continue to bear the financial burdens on the grounds that these missions have not achieved tangible results in addressing conflicts.

The same spokesperson pointed out that this meeting represents an important opportunity to review the performance of the MINURSO mission in light of the financial and political challenges it faces, and to discuss the implications of these changes on the mission’s ability to fully carry out its field tasks, including monitoring the ceasefire and ensuring the freedom of movement of its personnel, as well as to discuss ways to support it to enhance its effectiveness and continuity in light of international pressure and changes in the positions of countries funding peacekeeping missions.

He also touched on the obstacles that the Polisario Front places in the way of the freedom of movement of MINURSO personnel, which were emphasized in the latest report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, highlighting that “these obstacles prevent the mission from carrying out its full tasks, foremost among them monitoring the ceasefire, which the Polisario Front has repeatedly violated.”

Aba Ali Aba Sheikh continued, saying that Lacroix, in light of international developments and the recent Security Council resolution, is seeking to “push Algeria to pressure the Polisario to respect its commitments, and to open the way for serious negotiations based on the autonomy initiative as the only realistic framework for a political solution.”

Moroccan success

For his part, Sheikh Boussaid, a public law researcher interested in the Western Sahara conflict, noted that Algeria’s hosting of the “Oran Process” conference on December 1 and 2, which focused on peace and security in Africa and was attended by Jean-Pierre Delacroix, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, appears to be a reaction to the success of the Kingdom of Morocco in organizing the 93rd session of the General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in Marrakech, which received widespread praise from international security officials.

Boussaid explained, in a statement to the Hespress electronic newspaper, that Algeria’s summoning of this UN official primarily reflects his duties as the top official in charge of peacekeeping operations worldwide, including monitoring the work of the MINURSO mission, through holding meetings with regional actors to enhance the performance of the UN mission, evaluating its work and submitting technical reports to the UN Secretary-General, which makes his job indirectly linked to developments in the Moroccan Sahara issue.

The same political analyst stated that Jean-Pierre De La Croix's mission remains essentially security-related, while the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, remains responsible for the political negotiations process related to territorial integrity, including following up with the Security Council and submitting official reports on developments.

The spokesman stressed that the Algerian Foreign Ministry’s announcement that the meeting focused on peace and security in the continent, with a touch on the Sahara issue, falls within a strategy aimed at drawing the attention of the international community and disrupting Morocco’s efforts to consolidate the autonomy initiative after the Security Council adopted Resolution 2797, which considered the initiative serious and credible and imposed it as a basis for future negotiations between the parties.

The researcher, who delved into the intricacies of the conflict, added that international praise for the Moroccan autonomy proposal and the level of development in the southern provinces, along with the opening of consulates by several African countries in Laayoune and Dakhla, and the American recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara, has put Algeria and its creation, the Polisario Front, in a position of weakness, and their influence is diminishing in the face of Morocco’s ability to convince the international community of the seriousness and credibility of the autonomy initiative.

In this context, Sheikh Bousaid believes that such Algerian meetings, despite attempts to highlight the Sahara issue, do not change the realities on the ground, nor do they negate the growing success of the Moroccan approach at the diplomatic and economic development levels in the southern provinces.