Rabat – The presence of the self-proclaimed “SADR” is “an institutional aberration” and “an anomaly” within the African Union (AU), Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Nasser Bourita said on Monday.
The very existence of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which is backed by the armed militia Polisario, poses a threat to Africa, and should be rooted out of the AU, Bourita stated to the media on the sidelines of the reception of African politicians.
The reception came two days after the signing of the ‘Tangier Call,’ an appeal to revoke SADR’s membership in the AU. The document contains 19 signatures so far since its introduction on November 4, 2022.
The self-proclaimed SADR is “a violation” of international law and the principles of national unity, Bourita continued, stressing that the “SADR” embodies “an Africa of divisions” and “contradicts” AU practices.
“We can build an action plan from the White Paper to approach officials and raise awareness among lawyers and the media about this aberration,” he said, arguing that “if the SADR is a state, its first place should be at the United Nations.”
The Tangier Call was adopted unanimously in Marrakech on January 28 by former prime ministers and former African ministers at the first follow-up meeting on the expulsion of the self-proclaimed “SADR” from the AU.
The White Paper acknowledges that the presence of the Polisario Front within the AU illustrates the institutional vulnerability of the Organization and represents regional and continental economic integration.
The appeal was signed by politicians representing Guinea Bissau, Djibouti, Congo, Guinea, Eswatini, Benin, Comoros, Liberia, Gabon, and Mali, among others.
In the same meeting, former African politicians described Polisario’s expulsion from the AU as a “legitimate [demand] from a legal point of view.”
Describing the move as “favorable” in an international and continental context, the politicians reiterated that revoking Polisario’s AU membership would mark a return to “where realism and pragmatism prevail.”
The measure “represents an essential prerequisite for the return of the impartiality and credibility of the Pan-African Organization on the question of the Moroccan Sahara,” the politicians added.
A growing wave of voices from across the continent and the around the world is backing Morocco’s position over the Western Sahara dispute.
More than 25 countries, within Africa and outside, have opened consulates in the southern provinces of Dakhla and Laayoune to showcase their support for Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Read Also: Polisario’s Expulsion from AU: More African Politicians Sign Tangier Appeal
