In a phone call with King Mohammed VI, President Donald Trump announced that his country recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara. The decision comes as Rabat agrees, in exchange, to normalize ties with Israel.
In December 1988, the Polisario shot two American planes on a locust-spraying mission to Morocco. The first plane was wrecked between the Mauritanian border and the sand wall and the second one landed in a Sidi Ifni airfield.
With the support of the UN and world powers, the Mauritanian head of diplomacy is leading mediation between Morocco and the Polisario. Officially, only Algeria is missing from Nouakchott's contacts.