Territorial dispute

US lobbying: Morocco worries Biden will flip Western Sahara policy

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Africa’s Top 10 lobbying operations in Washington, D.C

By Julian Pecquet

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Posted on February 21, 2022 08:16

After scoring a major diplomatic victory under President Donald Trump, the Moroccan government is determined to avoid any backpedaling by Congress and the new White House.

Since November 2021, the Embassy of Morocco has hired no fewer than three lobbying firms – Akin Gump, Brownstein Hyatt and Yorktown Solutions – for a total of $150,000 per month after going without representation for months. A fourth firm, Holly Strategies, is working as a subcontractor for Brownstein Hyatt.

Rabat is looking to preserve Trump’s recognition of its sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, whose native Sahrawi people have been promised a referendum on self-determination by the UN. Trump proclaimed on 10 December 2020 that “the entire Western Sahara territory is part of the Kingdom of Morocco” as incentive for Rabat to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel that had been cut off following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.

Heavy hitters on the account include two former Republican leaders of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce of

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