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Once again, Algeria’s Foreign Minister, Ahmed Attaf, has disappointed Polisario supporters. Speaking on Monday in Seoul on Algeria’s behalf at the African Union–South Korea ministerial meeting, Algeria’s top diplomat neither denounced the Front’s sidelining nor argued in favor of «self-determination» in the Sahara.
Instead, Ahmed Attaf expressed his «satisfaction» with the results achieved since the first AU–South Korea summit, held in 2024 in the South Korean capital. He also reaffirmed Algeria’s willingness to «contribute actively to developing and strengthening the Afro-Korean partnership», which, he said, «continues to grow in both diversity and scope».
The absence of any reference to the Polisario quickly drew criticism in the Tindouf camps on Algerian soil. Polisario media outlets ignored Ahmed Attaf’s speech at the South Korea–African Union meeting. On social media, Sahrawis voiced their discontent, anger that adds to the frustration sparked by a speech delivered by Ahmed Attaf himself on May 24 in Algiers, on the occasion of Africa Day.
Algiers, weary of the fight...
The minister had then welcomed the adoption, on October 31, of UN Security Council Resolution 2797. He also reaffirmed Algeria’s commitment, «as an observer member», to the process of talks on the Western Sahara issue, conducted under the auspices of President Donald Trump’s administration and the United Nations.
Ahmed Attaf’s official silence contrasts sharply with the regret expressed by Algiers after the Polisario was excluded from the Indonesia–African Union summit, held in August 2024 in Bali.
«There is a people in Africa still fighting for its freedom, and that is the people of Western Sahara. Their suffering reminds us that the road ahead remains long», Algeria’s representative told the gathering at the time, in a speech that emphasized self-determination.
A few weeks later, Algiers downgraded its presence at the China–AU summit, held in Beijing without the Polisario. The Algerian delegation was led by Ahmed Attaf, whereas in the absence of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, that role is traditionally taken on by the prime minister, as was the case at the Russia–Africa summit in July 2023 in Saint Petersburg, and again at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in January 2024 in Kampala, Uganda.
As a reminder, during a meeting of the African Union Executive Council held in July 2024 in Accra, Ghana, Ahmed Attaf called on African states to condemn «the desire of some to entrench a policy of exclusion, or rather the exclusion of a founding member of our organization». That appeal, however, failed to produce the desired results.
