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Casablanca – The Moroccan Foreign Affairs Ministry has flatly rejected the statements made by the Istiqlal Party’s Secretary General concerning Mauritania’s territorial integrity, according to a statement issued by the Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).
A communiqué released by the Foreign Affairs Ministry states that “the foreign affairs ministry flatly rejects these statements which undermine relations with a brotherly neighboring country and show a real ignorance of the Moroccan diplomacy’s orientations, laid by the King, and which advocate good neighborliness, solidarity and cooperation with the sister nation of Mauritania.”
Istiqlal Secretary General Hamid Chabat raised controversy this week when he called Mauritania “a Moroccan territory” and said that “Morocco’s borders extend from Sebta in the north to the Senegal river in the south.”
In response, the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Morocco insisted on officially declaring “its full respect for the known and recognized borders, under the international law, of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and its territorial integrity” in the communiqué published earlier today.
“[Morocco] is confident that the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, its president, government and people, will give no importance to this kind of statements which are prejudicial only to the person making them,” the statement added.
Earlier this month, tensions between Rabat and Nouakchott grew as the Polisario was granted access to Lagouira. On December 8, it was reported that Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali was allowed to enter the Lagouira territory and take pictures in the Guerguerat zone.
Many believe Hamid Chabat’s statements certainly don’t help to further improve bilateral relations, especially as Morocco currently bids for re-entry into the African Union.
