Morocco’s diplomatic campaign in Western Sahara has started yielding results, with 10 African states opening diplomatic representations in the Moroccan southern provinces.
Rabat – The opening of 10 consulates within two months in Morocco’s southern provinces is solid proof of the great African support for the kingdom’s territorial integrity, said Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita.
Bourita made the statement on Thursday, March 12, following the opening of a Liberian consulate in the city of Dakhla in Western Sahara.
“The opening of the tenth consulate is a goal that Morocco aspired to achieve within a year, but it was achieved in just two months,” Bourita commented.
The significant number “reflects the great support enjoyed by the national cause, especially in Africa,” he added.
African “states are ready to express their support for the Moroccan identity of the Sahara by any means,” continued Bourita.
Liberia has always supported Morocco’s stances in international forums and stood by the kingdom in all its diplomatic battles within the United Nations and the African Union, said the foreign minister.
The two countries share strong bonds based on solidarity, added Bourita, recalling Morocco’s support of Liberia during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Morocco’s national flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc, “was the only airline to maintain its flights to the region,” asserted Bourita. Brussels Airlines also maintained flights to Liberia during the outbreak.
According to the diplomat, continuing the flights lifted the spirits of Liberians as Morocco decided to support the West African country instead of isolating it.
The new consulate is expected to strengthen technical cooperation and humanitarian ties between the two countries.
The consulate does not only consolidate Moroccan-Liberian relations, but also the position of Western Sahara, and Dakhla specifically, as a place for pan-African cooperation, Bourita concluded.
The Liberian consulate is the fourth diplomatic representation in Dakhla, inaugurated after other consulates representing Guinea, the Gambia, and Djibouti.
Meanwhile, the city of Laayoune, 500 kilometers north of Dakhla, hosts consulates from the Comoros, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, the Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burundi.
