New York, September 28, 2026 (SPS) – Algerian Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the National Community Abroad and African Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Attaf, reaffirmed, in his address to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Algeria's principled position in support of the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
He added that Algeria welcomed the holding of direct negotiations between the two parties to the conflict, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, earlier this year, under the auspices of the United Nations and with the assistance of the United States of America.
In his address, Ahmed Attaf stated: “From this standpoint, allow me to present to you what we sincerely and faithfully believe to be necessary for a lasting and just settlement of the Western Sahara issue.”
First: Algeria stresses that the success of the negotiating process requires the two parties to the conflict to engage in good faith and with a genuine will to reach a fair, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, and away from a logic of dictates and bargaining. Algeria also emphasizes that any serious negotiating process can only proceed within the relevant United Nations framework and with respect for the United Nations’ established doctrine on decolonization.
Second: Algeria warns that any attempt to circumvent this framework or marginalize the holders of the original right—the people of Western Sahara—and their legitimate and sole representative, the Polisario Front, will not contribute to resolving the conflict. Rather, it would further complicate it and exacerbate tensions in a region that is in urgent need of peace, stability, cooperation and development.
Third: In this context, Algeria stresses that it has hosted Sahrawi refugees on its territory for more than half a century as a result of the occupation of their land. This occupation cannot be reduced or confined to a refugee issue, in which refugees are presented with the choice between voluntary return, resettlement or local integration.
“It is an issue that requires, first and foremost and ultimately, the completion of the decolonization process in Western Sahara through a comprehensive political process; and this process can only take place through the exercise by the people of Western Sahara of their inherent right to self-determination,” he said.
“That is, undoubtedly, the sound and correct approach to the situation of the last colony on the African continent,” the Algerian Foreign Minister added.
He further affirmed that the right of peoples to self-determination remains a fundamental principle of international law, and that the passage of half a century cannot transform an imposed reality into a legal fact, nor diminish a right whose holders do not need anyone to explain it to them.
“The collective memory of peoples, as well as the historical experience of the United Nations, confirms that genuine peace is not built by overriding rights, but by finding a settlement that respects those rights and responds to the aspirations of their holders,” he concluded.
