Antony Blinkhead of US diplomacy, will visit Israel, West Bank, Morocco and Algeria from March 26 to 30 to talk about Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but also to “intensify efforts” against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the State Department announced Thursday.
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Blinken announces working tour of Israel, the West Bank, Morocco and Algeria
During this tour, Blinken will address “a number of regional and global priorities including Ukraine, Iran, normalization agreements between Israel (and some Arab countries), the preservation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” reported Yael Lempert, in charge of Middle East affairs at the State Department.
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Blinken will meet first with the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, who has offered to mediate in the war launched by Moscow against kyiv. “We appreciate the role” that Israel is trying to play, Lempert said.
The Secretary of state He will later meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
In Morocco, he will speak with his counterpart Nasser Bourita on “regional affairs and bilateral cooperation, as well as on the progress of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
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In Rabat, he will also meet with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and de facto leader of the United Arab EmiratesMohamed ben Zayed, at a time of certain tension in bilateral relations, in the words of the Emirati ambassador in Washington.
The Emirates has avoided positioning itself against Russia and has shown no intention of limiting the price of oil, which has risen due to the war in Ukraine.
The relationship with the Emirates is “strategic” and “very important to us”, said Yael Lempert.
Western Sahara, the end point of Blinken
At the end of his tour, in Algeria, Blinken will meet with the Algerian presidentAbdelmadjid Tebboune, and the Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, on issues of regional security and trade relations.
Algiers supplies natural gas to Europe and has played a crucial role since a controversial gas pipeline project linking Russia with Germany was suspended due to the war in Ukraine.
Morocco and Algeria are experiencing tensionsespecially for Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony considered a “non-autonomous territory” by the UN, and which has confronted Morocco for decades with the separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria.
In August Algiers broke diplomatic relations with Rabat, accusing him of “hostile actions”.
The United States has recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara under the mandate of former President Donald Trump. He recently reiterated his support for the autonomy plan proposed by Rabat to resolve the conflict.
The last friday Spain abandoned its traditional neutrality to be in favor of the Moroccan autonomy plan for what was a Spanish colony until 1975, against the self-determination referendum demanded by the Saharawi Polisario Front.
Morocco, despite being an ally of the United States and the European Union, did not participate in the two UN General Assembly votes on resolutions on the war in Ukraine.
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