Received by Registration Unit 01/12/2018 2:28:06 PM

January 2018

MOROCCO THE WESTERN SAHARA

. Language proposed by the Senate'Appropriations Subcommittee will establish a dangefoUs

 

 

precedent, requiring the US to consult with the United Nations before aid relief decisions are
made in the Western Sahara. It is critical that the US. is able to act decisiVely and 
cooperatively with Morocco, in a region that is vulnerable to looming terror threats from
and linked HVEs.

Threat of Ceding Unilateral Authority

Morocco as a bulwark of
US. policy has long

Couperation in the Fight
Against Terror



supported a solution to
the.Western Sahara

0 Morocco is a member of the Global based on a formula Of

Coalition to 
i - Moroccan sovereignty.
0 Morocco is a major Ally

and a Mediterranean Dialogue 
partner in the EU's Barcelona

autonomy under

 

The Trump . 
Administration ?continueisl to View Morocco?s autonomy

plan as serious, credible, and realistic.? Efforts to

Process. . . . ..
. undermine progress underway to settle this dispute by
0 Morocco participates in the 5+5 . ceding decision-making control on aid to the United 
Defense Initiative, WhiCh brings Nations would carry a signi?cant risk of alienating U.S. -
together five European and five Moroccan Security Cooperation. The US. Government

North African countries to address
security issues in the Western
Mediterranean.

should retain its authority to act decisively in a?
region that is vulnerable to in?ltration by
autocracies which flirt with terrorism. LaSt month,

Over 1,000 U.S. personnel 1 Vice President Pence announced that President Trump
participate annually in a flagship . 1 ordered the State Department to stop funding
bilateral military exercise, African . "ineffective" United Nations relief efforts and that,
Lion/ and smaller bilateral exerdses' instead, the US. will helpby funding directly through? the
. are held regularly. A US. Agency for International Development. The currently I
0 Recent purchases ofiu_s_ proposed Senate language could impede attempts to
defense materiel include: regain controlof US diplomacy priorities.

    
 
   

.0 24 F-io aircraft; 24 trainer aircraft; 1?
'90 AGM-D Maverick'air-to-ground
missiles; refurbishment worth over
$1 billion for 200 Abrams MiAl
tanks acquired as a grant 

?The last thing Africa needsis another failed state, and that?s
exactly what Western Sahara would become if Morocco 
transfer; advanced AM 1 20437 aiptoi independent Western Sahara would-be an even 

air medium-range missiles systems; bigger breeding ground for terroristsPeter Pham, Director of the The Atlantic Council, There ?s a New Terrorist 
and Jiomt D'red AttaCk Munltlon l? Threat Emerging in Western Sahara, and the World isn?t Paying Attention
missile guidance kits. l: . - 

era?F?-

ri?vtu?a 

 

 

 

This material is distributed Strategies on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco. Additional Information is available at the Department ofjustice, Washington, D.C.

Received by Registration Unit 01/12/2018 2:28:06 PM