The Process to establish a US consulate in the Moroccan Saharan city of Dakhla is on track, as announced this Thursday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The process to establish a US consulate in Dakhla has been officially launched, announced the US Secretary of State in a tweet Thursday.
The US top diplomat did not announce when the diplomatic facility will be physically opened as the US is looking to find and secure a suitable property but said that the US embassy in Rabat would operate a virtual consulate to serve Western Sahara.
In his tweet, Pompeo also emphasized his country’s determination to promote economic and social development in favor of the region’s population.
“We look forward to promoting economic and social development and engaging the people of this region,» the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted.
The decison to open a US consulate General in Dakhla was announced by President Donald Trump in a phone talk with King Mohammed VI on Dec.10.
President Trump had also made during the phone talk the historic and important announcement on the recognition of the United States of the Moroccaness of the Sahara.
The US President officialized the announcements in a proclamation that he signed on December 10.
The decisions were also formalized in the Joint Declaration between Morocco, the United States, and Israel that was signed under the presidency of King Mohammed VI, in Rabat on December 22.
The Joint Declaration highlights the proclamation by the United States on recognizing the sovereignty of Morocco over the Sahara, stating that “the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory and reaffirms its support for Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory.”
To facilitate progress toward this aim, the text states that the United States “will encourage economic and social development with Morocco, including in the Western Sahara territory, and to that end will open a consulate in the Western Sahara territory, in Dakhla, to promote economic and business opportunities for the region,” the joint Declaration states.
