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Court of South Africa: Seized phosphate shipment belongs to Sahrawi Republic

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Port Elizabeth, South Africa, February 23, 2018 (SPS) - The High Court of South Africa on Friday issued a final ruling on the shipment of phosphates held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, that the shipment belongs to the Sahrawi Republic, confirming that Morocco had never any ownership over Sahrawi phosphate. 
In a statement to the Sahrawi News Agency (SPS), the Saharawi Coordinator with MINURSO, in Charge of the Natural Resources, Emhamad Khadad, confirmed that the ruling of the Court of South African on the shipment of phosphates held in Port Elizabeth since May 2017, was "Final and conclusive" and confirms that the shipment belongs to the Saharawi Republic without any dispute and "was not neither the property of Morocco, nor the New Zealand company or the phosphate carrier.
He further said that this ruling is a reinforcement of the ruling of the European Court of Justice and the Advisory Opinion of the African Union in 2015.
The South African authorities stopped the shipment carrier on May 1, 2017 at the port of Port Elizabeth, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Sahrawi Republic. (SPS)
062/SPS/TRA