Algeria is preparing to host its annual Oran Forum in support of the Polisario Front. The event will coincide with the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf has invited his counterparts from Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and the Republic of Guyana, non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, to attend the forum. Somalia, which will join the Security Council in January 2025, has also been invited. Officially, the meeting aims to «renew the commitment to continue regular consultations and close coordination on the various issues on the Security Council's agenda». However, the forum's primary purpose is to garner support for the Polisario Front and its cause. Three of the invited countries, Somalia, the Republic of Guyana, and Sierra Leone, support Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. Algeria and Mozambique, on the other hand, recognize the «Sahrawi Democratic Republic» (SADR). The Oran Forum comes ahead of a crucial UN Security Council vote on extending the mandate of MINURSO, the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara. Algeria is actively lobbying countries to vote against or abstain from the resolution, which is scheduled for adoption in late October.
