Rabat – Saudi Arabia has announced its decision to postpone the Arab-African Summit, citing concerns about the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza. However, reports have suggested that the decision to delay the summit had much deeper implications.
Moroccan outlet Le 360 quoted a “reliable source” as saying that the decision to delay the summit was also heavily influenced by the potential participation of the separatist Polisario Front, supported by South Africa and Algeria.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry’s press release stated that the country decided to postpone the event due to the “current development in Gaza, which necessitated the holding of an extraordinary Arab summit and an Islamic summit to discuss the ongoing crisis.”
The statement emphasized the need to ensure that regional political developments do not jeopardize the Arab-African partnership, which aims to focus on economic development.
“But what the Riyadh press release does not say is that there is another determining factor which led to this postponement: the possible presence of representatives of the puppet republic – the SADR – among the African delegations scheduled to participate at the summit,” Le 360 reported.
The Moroccan outlet explained that the issue crosses a “red line” for Saudi Arabia, a firm and outspoken defender of Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over the Sahara, stressing that the country “cannot tolerate” the presence of Polisario leaders at the event.
Read also: Morocco ‘Deeply Regrets’ South Africa, Algeria’s Financing of Polisario’s Separatist Agenda
The report further explained that the postponement of the summit is a response by Saudi Arabia and, by extension the Arab League, to a commitment made after the fourth Arab-African Summit held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in November 2016.
Eight Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, had boycotted the summit in protest against the participation of a “Western Sahara delegation.” Following that episode, it was agreed that the list of countries invited to the summit would be jointly determined in advance by the Arab League and the African Union.
However, this decision has not yet been ratified at the African Union’s ministerial level, leading Saudi Arabia to plan its own summit to circumvent any infiltration by the SADR through the AU.
The Arab-African summit, which is a collaborative effort between the Arab League and the African Union, was set to take place in Riyadh on November 11 with the aim of fostering stronger ties between the two regions.
