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Rabat – Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah said today that he regrets Morocco’s absence from the 8th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD). Kemayah called for “the suspension of this session until the problems relating to the procedures are resolved.”
On Friday, Morocco decided to boycott the conference, which is taking place in Tunis this Saturday and Sunday, after Tunisia’s President Kais Saied invited Polisario leader Brahim Ghali to the TICAD. Saied’s sudden ditch of his country’s decades of neutrality regarding the Western Sahara dossier resulted in rising tensions between Rabat and Tunis.
“Liberia expresses regret over Morocco’s absence from TICAD-8. We are surprised by the imposed presence of a delegation [representatives of the Polisario Front] in violation of TICAD procedures”, said Kemayah on the opening day of the summit.
Denouncing the unexpected inclusion of Ghali in the conference, the Liberian minister stressed the importance of respecting the rules jointly established with the TICAD’s co-host Japan. The latter has requested to leave regional politics out of the summit, which was supposed to focus on the $30 billion Japan vowed to support the development of African countries.
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In addition to the Liberian foreign minister, Senegal’s President and current Chairperson of the African Union, said that his country “regrets that this TICAD will be marked by the absence of Morocco, a prominent member of the African Union.”
President of Comoros Azali Assoumani said: “I would like to express our regret for the absence of Morocco, a pillar of Africa for reasons of compliance with the rules established so far for the organization of this TICAD summit.”
Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo protested Tunis’ move in a bolder stance after he left the ongoing conference.
In response to Kais Saied’s sudden change in stance regarding the Western Sahara dossier, Morocco immediately recalled its ambassador to Tunisia Hassan Tariq.
