The United States is working to broker a peace agreement between Algeria and Morocco within 60 days, President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff announced Monday.
Speaking to CBS’s 60 Minutes, Witkoff said Washington’s mediation aims to end decades of tension between the two North African rivals. “We’re working on Algeria and Morocco right now, our team. And there’s going to be a peace deal there in the next, in my view, 60 days,” he stated.
Witkoff added that peace efforts in the region have created a wave of optimism. “Doing a peace deal is becoming infectious. People wanna do them. People wanna get to this place,” he said.
Neither Algeria nor Morocco immediately commented on the US envoy’s remarks. However, any breakthrough would mark a historic step in resolving one of North Africa’s most entrenched disputes.
The neighbours severed diplomatic ties in 2021, citing “hostile acts” amid long-standing tensions over the Western Sahara, a vast desert territory claimed by Morocco and contested by the Polisario Front, an Algeria-backed movement seeking independence.
Morocco proposed autonomy for the territory under its sovereignty in 2007, while the Polisario Front insists on a UN-backed referendum to determine its final status.
Analysts say a peace deal, if achieved, could reshape the region’s political landscape, unlocking prospects for economic cooperation and regional stability.
For now, Washington’s promise of swift diplomacy faces the test of deep-seated mistrust — a challenge as old as the sands of the Sahara itself.