AFP Asia Business

Many people in Western Sahara hope Morocco’s long-discussed autonomy plan for the area — now backed by the UN Security Council — will accelerate development and end the half-century-long territorial dispute.Its main city of Laayoune, with modern apartment blocks built among sand dunes some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean, already projects an image of growth and stability.But the sprawling desert city of around 250,000 people remains at the heart of the conflict that has pitted Rabat against the Algiers-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the mainly tribal native Sahrawi people.Cafes and restaurants in Laayoune are full, and official portraits of King Mohammed VI and Moroccan flags hang from balconies.Many Sahrawi tribal leaders interviewed by AFP voiced support for Rabat’s plan.Among them, Abdallah Salhi said the plan would mean “living off our resources and having elected officials, a parliament and a government that manages this region”.While mineral-rich Western Sahara remains on the UN list of non-self-governing territories, the Security Council on October 31 endorsed Morocco’s plan.The Western Sahara is a national cause for Morocco and is central to the kingdom’s tensions with its neighbour and regional foe Algeria.- ‘Unbearable separation’ -When Spain pulled out of Western Sahara in 1975, both Morocco and the Polisario, which was founded two years earlier, claimed the territory.Fighting displaced tens of thousands of people, who fled to camps in western Algeria, UN figures show.Abdelatif Baira, another Sahrawi tribal chief, said the autonomy plan would allow the return of “our brothers and sisters” from the camps near Tindouf, home to roughly 175,000 Sahrawi refugees.”The separation of families is unbearable,” Baira said.Wearing a traditional daraa gown, the 64-year-old said the territory was “empty” and devoid of infrastructure when the Spanish withdrew.”Today everything has changed. Morocco built universities, hospitals, an airport, roads, schools…”The territory is rich in phosphates and home to lucrative fishing grounds.It has a population of more than 600,000, according to Morocco’s 2024 census, which does not distinguish between native Sahrawis and those who moved there from Morocco.Last month’s UN vote, coming at the initiative of US President Donald Trump’s administration, said “genuine autonomy could represent a most feasible outcome” under the plan to end the dispute.Morocco must now update its proposal to reach “a final mutually acceptable solution” according to the resolution.The Polisario still demands a UN referendum on self-determination — promised under a 1991 ceasefire but never held.Moulay Ibrahim Taleb Ali, a 40-year-old who heads a cooperative that produces the daraa, welcomed the UN move.He said the plan could stimulate the Western Saharan economy and attract foreign investors previously reluctant because of the territory’s disputed status.- Some fear ‘restrictions’ -Hanane Khadiri, a 38-year-old theatre company director, said the autonomy plan would provide women with more opportunities.She said Sahrawi women “work a lot”, especially in traditional crafts, but often lack the “financial backing to prosper”.She said Laayoune was changing, even though it was already “developed, modern and stable”.Some fear the Moroccan plan could restrict freedoms, however.Ajwad, 45, who is originally from Meknes and asked that his family name be withheld for fear of retribution, said some Sahrawis “don’t want autonomy” under Morocco, because that would “impose restrictions” on their freedoms.He also worried that the political shift could create friction.”In a future local government, the question of who will hold which position is likely to fuel rivalries,” he said, adding that competition within local institutions is also likely.Since moving to Laayoune in 2005 to start a production company, Ajwad has “not paid taxes”, he said, much like other businesses in the territory.But that could change under the autonomy plan, he believed. “We have already started preparing for taxation, three or four years ago.””We are not paying yet, but that will come soon,” he added. “Some will have difficulty adapting to that.”

The UN Security Council voted Monday in favor of a US-drafted resolution bolstering Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international force and a path to a future Palestinian state.There were 13 votes in favor of the text, which US President Trump claimed would lead to “further Peace all over the World,” with only Russia and China abstaining — but no vetoes.Trump posted on social media that the vote “acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me…will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the United Nations, (and) will lead to further Peace all over the World.”US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said after the vote that “today’s resolution represents another significant step that will enable Gaza to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security.”But Hamas, which is excluded by the resolution from any governance role in Gaza, said the resolution did not meet Palestinians’ “political and humanitarian demands and rights.”The text, which was revised several times as a result of high-stakes negotiations, “endorses” the US president’s plan, which allowed for a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to take hold on October 10 in the war-wracked Palestinian territory.The Gaza Strip has been largely reduced to rubble after two years of fighting, sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.The peace plan authorizes the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.The ISF is mandated to work on the “permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,” protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors.- Palestinian statehood pathway -It also authorizes the formation of a “Board of Peace,” a transitional governing body for Gaza — which Trump would theoretically chair — with a mandate running until the end of 2027.In convoluted language, the resolution does mention a possible future Palestinian state.Once the Palestinian Authority has carried out requested reforms and the rebuilding of Gaza is underway, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” the text says.That eventuality has been firmly rejected by Israel.The resolution also calls for the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries at scale through the UN, ICRC and Red Crescent.”We must also substantially step up our work to support the UN humanitarian effort. That requires opening all crossings and ensuring that aid agencies and international NGOs can operate without obstruction,” said a British ambassador to the UN, James Kariuki.Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said ahead of the vote that the resolution would “make sure that Hamas will not pose a threat against Israel anymore.”Veto-wielding Russia circulated a competing draft, saying the US document does not go far enough towards backing the creation of a Palestinian state.Moscow’s text, seen by AFP, asked the Council to express its “unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution.”It would not have authorized a Board of Peace or the deployment of an international force for the time being, instead asking UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to offer “options” on those issues.”Security Council members were, in practice, not given the time to do the work in good faith,” Moscow’s ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said.”The US document is yet another pig in a poke. In essence, the Council is giving its blessing to a US initiative on the basis of Washington’s promises, giving complete control over the Gaza strip to the Board of Peace.” The US won the backing of several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, publishing a joint statement of support for the text signed by Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey.