Joshua Harris has been removed from his post as U.S. ambassador to Algeria and reassigned to a new mission in Iraq. Nicknamed «Mr. Sahara» within the Biden administration, Harris will now serve as Chargé d'Affaires in Baghdad and Erbil. «Honored to welcome Joshua Harris back to Iraq! He looks forward to working closely with Iraqi partners and our teams in Baghdad and Erbil to advance the strong U.S.-Iraq partnership and promote U.S. objectives in this critical relationship», the U.S. embassy in Baghdad announced on X. Harris's last official engagement on the Western Sahara file came during his visit to Algeria in late July, when he accompanied Massad Boulos, Donald Trump's special advisor for Africa, for meetings with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf. In March, President Joe Biden had put forward Harris's nomination as ambassador to Algeria. Over the course of 2023, Harris visited both Morocco and Algeria twice, in September and December, as part of U.S. efforts to reinvigorate the stalled political process on Western Sahara. In September, he also traveled to the Tindouf camps, where he met with Polisario leader Brahim Ghali. Unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump, Biden has not formally endorsed Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. Trump, however, reiterated his support for Morocco's autonomy plan in a message to King Mohammed VI on August 2, on the occasion of Throne Day.
