The Polisario is concerned about the follow-up meeting of African prime ministers and former foreign ministers, signatories of the Tangier Appeal, calling for the expulsion of the “SADR” from the African Union. This is evidenced by the publication of a communiqué condemning the organization of the meeting and the speech of the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivered on this occasion. The separatist movement considered that the statements of Nasser Bourita constitute a “non-recognition of the most basic principles of international law.
The head of diplomacy said Monday that the presence of the “SADR” in the AU is “an institutional obstacle”, “an anomaly” and “a legal aberration, because it does not correspond to the constituent elements of a state at the international level. He added that the creation of the self-proclaimed entity in 1976 is “a violation of international law and the principles of national unity. It embodies “an Africa of divisions,” he said.
After its return, enacted in January 2017, to the African Union, the kingdom has managed to convince several African states to recognize the Moroccanity of the Sahara. Since then, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea (Conakry), Liberia, Malawi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zambia, have diplomatic representations in the Sahara. Somalia and Chad announced, in September, the opening of their consulates in Dakhla.
On this list of African states recognizing the sovereignty of Morocco over the Western Sahara, it should be noted that 11 had previously established diplomatic relations with the “SADR. These are Burkina Faso, Burundi, Esawtini, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zambia. A significant figure attesting, if necessary, the erosion of support for the Polisario in Africa including in some areas of the continent that were long acquired, such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
As a reminder, Nasser Bourita had announced in August in Dakhla, the holding soon in Morocco of a ministerial meeting of countries that have opened consulates in the southern provinces. Another step in the process of expelling the “SADR” from the AU.
