Shaheed El Hafed, 10 October 2026 (SPS) – Special Adviser to the President of the Republic, Oubi Bushraya Al-Bashir, has warned against attempts to shift the Western Sahara issue away from its legal framework of decolonisation and the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, turning it instead into a geopolitical bargaining tool.
In an interview with Algerian newspaper Echorouk, Oubi Bushraya Al-Bashir cautioned against what he described as the “Middle Easternisation” of the conflict, whereby Morocco’s normalisation of relations with Israel could be exchanged for support for Rabat’s position in the UN Security Council.
He stressed that any settlement must comply with international law and the UN Charter and guarantee the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to self-determination. He rejected Morocco’s autonomy proposal as a solution imposed in advance, arguing that the final status of the territory must be determined by the Sahrawi people themselves.
Oubi Bushraya Al-Bashir highlighted the importance of recent contacts between the Polisario Front and US officials ahead of the Security Council’s deliberations on Western Sahara. He underlined that the Polisario Front must be involved in any serious political process and reaffirmed its readiness to engage constructively in negotiations based on the UN Charter and Security Council Resolution 2797.
He added that Morocco’s efforts to promote international recognition of its claims and open foreign consulates in the occupied territory do not alter Western Sahara’s status as a non-self-governing territory or resolve the question of decolonisation.
The Sahrawi official warned that prioritising geopolitical interests over international law would prolong the conflict and risk broader regional instability. He recalled that the Sahrawi people had maintained their struggle for freedom and self-determination for more than five decades, despite international political shifts.
Oubi Bushraya Al-Bashir concluded that a just and lasting solution requires respect for international legitimacy and the Sahrawi people’s exclusive right to determine the future status of their territory.
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