By Ayman Okeil
I read the work paper issued by the United Nations Secretariat on the Moroccan Sahara (which the paper itself described as “Western Sahara” rather than “Moroccan Sahara”). I believe that any rational, aware, fair, and neutral person, upon reading it and paying attention to what is between the lines, will find many paradoxes, and will realize the stark difference between those who seek development and those who seek stagnation; between ugliness and beauty, the worthless and the precious, the noble and the inferior; between those who want order and those who love chaos; between those who love peace and those who love wars; and between those who carry flowers and those who carry coldness.
The working paper, released in January 2026 but made available recently as one of the United Nations documents, reviews the latest developments and political negotiations related to the issue of the Sahara. It also presents the speeches and correspondence exchanged between the Kingdom of Morocco and the UN Secretary-General, as well as, on the other hand, messages sent by the Polisario Front to the Secretary-General. The paper further referenced the annual speech delivered by King Mohammed VI on 29 July 2025 on the occasion of the glorious Throne Day, in which he expressed his determination to find a consensual solution, according to his words, “in which there is no victor and no vanquished, and which preserves dignity for everyone,” and “with Morocco’s readiness to engage with Algeria in a brotherly and candid dialogue.”
The paper also drew attention to the speech delivered by King Mohammed VI on the forty-ninth anniversary of the Green March. Of course, the Polisario Front rejected that speech, claiming that it was “against international legitimacy and United Nations and African Union resolutions.”
However, the Polisario Front’s rejection contradicts the momentum and support that Morocco’s Autonomy Plan and the initiative announced by King Mohammed VI have received. At present, acknowledgments of the Autonomy Plan as a basis for any future negotiations are continuing to unfold; and among the most recent of these acknowledgments was the announcement in April 2026 by the State of Mali, which expressed support for the plan.
While these speeches reflected good faith, clear intent, and evident sincerity, unfortunately, there are irresponsible speeches, whose authors still fail to appreciate the cost borne by the Sahrawi people due to their incomplete political maturity and the illusions that Ibrahim Ghali and his associates have planted in them.
For example, paragraph 11 of the working paper issued by the UN Secretariat refers to a message allegedly sent by the Polisario Front to the UN Secretary-General. In it, the Front condemns, what a surprise, the economic activities carried out by the Kingdom of Morocco to develop the region, describing them as unlawful.
In my view, this paper sounds the alarm bells and calls for reaching rapid and practical solutions, even though, on 31 October 2025, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2797. That resolution calls for a political solution based on the Autonomy Initiative put forward by King Mohammed VI under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco, followed by the negotiations held in Madrid to discuss the implementation of the aforementioned Security Council resolution.
As I was reading this paper, I recalled my visit to the Moroccan Sahara, (Laâyoune, Es-Semara, Sakia El Hamra, and Dakhla), where I witnessed the developmental, urban, and economic progress; I got to know people’s lives, their traditions, and their historical legacy. It was an opportunity to see, firsthand, young people leading development and rights-based initiatives, and women leaders who represent a model of empowerment. I was right when I said, on an episode of the UNBelArabi dated 11 June 2025, that the Autonomy initiative presented by Morocco in 2007 is the most realistic, most acceptable, and closest to implementation on the ground, and that it is what will lead to stability, security, and lasting peace. And I still believe that, in due time, “Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
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