The UK has repositioned its stance in the Western Sahara conflict. According to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the Moroccan autonomy plan represents the "most credible" position.

The proposal, which dates back to 2007, is the "most viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the dispute," Lammy said in Morocco's capital Rabat earlier this week.

These words mark a turnaround from London's previous support for the UN's decades-long call for a referendum to determine the future of what it classifies as a 'non-self-governing territory'. The new position is in line with that of a number of other, predominantly Western countries.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita welcomed the change of course. According to media reports, the new British position "contributes significantly" to promoting the UN's path to a "final and mutually acceptable solution".

In its plan, Morocco outlines an allegedly far-reaching autonomy for the Western Sahara albeit under Moroccan sovereignty.

The change of position is likely to anger Morocco's regional rival Algeria, which backs the Polisario Front, a movement seeking an independent West Saharan state. In a statement on Sunday, Algeria said Morocco's proposal was "empty of content and incapable of contributing to a serious and credible settlement of the conflict."

"The British position nevertheless leaves a door open," Isabelle Werenfels, Maghreb observer at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told DW.

"When Foreign Minister Lammy describes the Moroccan proposal as the 'most credible solution,' he is not saying that it is the only solution," Werenfels said. "Unlike France, the UK is holding back in its positioning and is showing flexibility."

Last summer, French........

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