US plan at UN: Polisario threatens to quit the process
Per Hespress, the Polisario has written to the UN Secretary-General rejecting the US draft resolution on Western Sahara and threatening to quit the UN-led process if it is adopted as is. The draft is not final, says lnt.ma. Vote expected October 31.
The Polisario's letter to the UN
The Polisario has written to the UN Secretary-General. According to Hespress, on 26 October the movement rejected the wording of the US draft resolution on the Sahara file and threatened to withdraw from the UN-sponsored political process if the text is adopted in its current form.
The document, dated 20 October 2026 and circulated to the fifteen members of the Security Council, is not final, lnt.ma (La Nouvelle Tribune) notes on 23 October. The vote is expected on 31 October.
What the draft says
On 23 October, Le360 reported, citing Al Akhbar: 'According to information circulating about the American document, this preliminary draft makes autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty the exclusive basis for resolving this conflict, thereby breaking with the traditional formula that has shaped the handling of this file for decades.' Hespress, on 26 October, writes that the text states that 'genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty represents the only possible solution to the conflict'.
The draft also plans to end MINURSO as a peacekeeping mission on 30 April 2027, then replace it, from 1 May, with a special political mission, according to Le360.
To explain Washington's position, Hespress recalls a statement by US Ambassador Mike Waltz: 'the solution is on the table'.
The Polisario's objections in light of the facts
The Polisario considers that making autonomy the sole reference point for negotiations amounts to setting the framework in advance, Hespress reports. It also opposes the transformation of MINURSO.
Several elements of the file qualify this reading. Le360 specifies that 'this version remains preliminary and the Security Council has not yet made a final decision on adopting all of its provisions'. Hespress relays an argument of the same kind: the American draft does not 'automatically, at this stage, represent the collective position of the Council'. The text therefore does not have the force of a resolution.
The draft also builds on a process in which the Polisario took part. According to lnt.ma, it welcomes the holding of three rounds of direct talks in Washington and Madrid, involving Morocco, the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania, and takes note of the role of the US President. Le360 adds that the text aims to facilitate direct negotiations between these four parties.
Adoption remains open. Le360 stresses that the positions of Russia and China remain decisive and that the vote depends on consensus within the Council and on the rules in force. Brahim Belali Asouih, an analyst at Corcas quoted by Hespress, considers the current composition of the body, whose rotating presidency is held by Greece, to be favourable to the Moroccan initiative, with the exception of Russia. In his view, the Russian position would have been taken into account in the drafting.
The Moroccan reading of autonomy
For Le360, this development is a continuation of Resolution 2797 of 2025, which called on the parties to negotiate on the basis of the Moroccan proposal, while insisting on the need for a definitive political solution acceptable to the parties. The outlet sees in it proof of the importance the United States attaches to direct negotiations.
Brahim Belali Asouih notes that the draft presents the Moroccan initiative as the only legitimate framework. In his view, this wording reinforces the exclusive character of the political solution and rules out any openness to other initiatives or options for settlement. He sees the Polisario's threat to withdraw, in the absence of substantial changes to the draft, as a manoeuvre in the current context, one that would complicate its own position.
A precedent from 2025
The file is not new at the UN. On 29 October 2025, Le Monde was already describing the American push to defend autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. The Council was due to rule on Thursday 30 October on the renewal of MINURSO's mandate. The daily presented the territory as 'claimed by Morocco and by the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi independence movement supported by Algeria'.
The vote on the new draft is expected on 31 October.
Sources
- •Le360 (fr.le360.ma), 23 October 2026
- •Hespress (fr.hespress.com), 26 October 2026
- •lnt.ma (lnt.ma), 23 October 2026
- •Le Monde (lemonde.fr), 29 October 2025
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