Morocco announced on Friday the recall of its ambassador to Tunis after Tunisian President Kais Saied hosted the leader of the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front before a Japan-Africa forum.
Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario – who is calling for the independence of the disputed territory of Western Sahara controlled mainly by Morocco – was received by Mr. Saied on Friday before the Ticad, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, organized on Saturday and Sunday in Tunis. Mr. Ghali is the president of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of the Polisario Front.
A claimed area
The question of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony considered a “non-autonomous territory” by the UN, has pitted Morocco against the Polisario, supported by Algiers, for decades.
Rabat, which controls nearly 80% of this territory, is proposing an autonomy plan under its sovereignty. The Polisario is calling for a self-determination referendum under the aegis of the UN, planned when a ceasefire was signed in 1991 but never materialized.
This welcome “is a serious and unprecedented act, which deeply hurts the feelings of the Moroccan people and their living forces”, says the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its press release still criticizes Tunis for having “unilaterally” invited Mr. Ghali to this summit “against the advice of Japan and in violation of the preparation process”.
Faced with “this hostile and prejudicial attitude”, the kingdom decided “to cancel its participation in Ticad” and to recall “immediately for consultations” its ambassador in Tunis. According to Morocco, however, the recall of its ambassador “in no way affects the strong and intact ties between the Moroccan and Tunisian peoples, who are linked by a common history and a shared destiny”.