By Patrick Worsnip
New York - The United States threw its weight strongly behind Morocco on Wednesday in negotiations with the Polisario Front over Western Sahara, effectively backing autonomy for the territory rather than independence.
A US statement praised as "realistic" Rabat's plan for self-rule for the resource-rich former Spanish colony under Moroccan sovereignty and made no mention of Polisario's proposal for a referendum with independence as one option.
Morocco and Polisario, Sahara's Algeria-based independence movement, submitted their rival plans to the United Nations in April. They held an opening round of United Nations-mediated negotiations near New York in June and will meet again there on August 10.
Morocco annexed Western Sahara, which has major phosphate deposits, rich fishing grounds and, potentially, oil, after Spain withdrew in 1975.
In a statement read after a Security Council debate, US envoy Jackie Sanders welcomed "Morocco's serious and credible efforts to move the process forward toward resolution."
"We believe a promising and realistic way forward on the Western Sahara is meaningful autonomy," Sanders said.
"Morocco's initiative could provide a realistic framework to begin negotiations on a plan that would provide for real autonomy contingent on the approval of the local populations. We hope both sides will engage realistically."
Sanders noted that Morocco's "flexible" plan provided for a referendum. However, Rabat has made clear that would be a yes-or-no vote on a negotiated autonomy statute, and has said it will not now countenance full independence.
The Moroccan plan would allow for limited self-government, but key levers of power would remain in Rabat.
No country recognises Morocco's rule over Western Sahara but the United States is now impatient for a deal it hopes will bring more cooperation between North African states and help combat terrorist groups in the regions bordering the Sahara.
Washington has praised Morocco's plan before but the public delivery of the statement outside the Security Council chamber lent it considerable extra force. France also backs Rabat.
Sanders denied that the statement had been issued because the 15-nation council, some of whose members support Polisario, had refused to adopt it as a whole. In the only concession to Polisario's plan, she said it was up to the parties to find a solution.
Polisario has won formal recognition from some 45 states and been given membership in the African Union.
South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, who currently sits on the council, said one plan should not be favoured over the other. "An overwhelming number of council members who spoke, spoke about the need for balance," he said.
The council itself, in a low-key statement read by its president, Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya, welcomed the first round of negotiations and called for progress in the next.
Polisario's UN representative, Ahmed Boukhari, said the UN resolution that set up the talks "assumes that there are two proposals to resolve the conflict and not only one, and both should be equally treated by the United Nations".