The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it began the process to set up a U.S. consulate in Western Sahara, after President Donald Trump's administration this month recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the region.
In a departure from longstanding U.S. policy, Washington agreed to recognize Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara, a desert region where a decades-old territorial dispute has pitted Morocco against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state.
The recognition was part of a U.S.-brokered deal in which Morocco became the fourth Arab country after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan to normalize ties with Israel in the past four months.