In a move that surprised many observers, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and U.S. President’s African and Arab Affairs Advisor Massad Pauls dismantled Algeria’s attempt to portray its participation in the Madrid negotiations on the Moroccan Sahara as that of a “mere observer.”
Following Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf’s return from Spain, Algerian authorities tried to push a uniform media narrative via a “script” distributed to local outlets, claiming that Algeria and Mauritania attended the U.S.- and UN-led session as observers, while Morocco negotiated directly with the Polisario Front. Algerian newspapers widely echoed this version, citing a “well-informed official source.”
However, this narrative collided with official international reality. In a statement to Radio France Internationale, during the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Guterres emphasized that the negotiations were conducted “in a constructive spirit,” and that the final outcome depended on the ability of all parties to reach an agreement respecting everyone’s core interests. By using the term “all parties,” Guterres implicitly confirmed that Algeria is an integral participant in the process, not merely an observer.
This position is reinforced by the UN daily briefing on February 9, 2026, which stated that the Madrid discussions involved Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania, facilitated by high-level delegations from the UN and the U.S., to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2797 of October 31, 2025, which explicitly names these four countries as primary parties to the conflict.
The U.S. State Department also confirmed Algeria’s central role, reiterating that it is a stakeholder, not a mere observer.
Even Massad Pauls, who emphasized confidentiality regarding Madrid outcomes, confirmed for the first time in an interview with Deutsche Welle that Algeria participated as a key party alongside Morocco, the Polisario Front, and Mauritania. He stressed that implementing Resolution 2797 would take time but expressed optimism, thanks to the “pragmatic” U.S. approach.
The international framework and the positions of Guterres and Pauls directly dismantle Algeria’s scripted narrative, placing it in a delicate position: Algeria’s participation is not that of a mere observer but of a key actor in the conflict, as explicitly confirmed by the UN resolution.
