Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), February 17, 2024 (SPS) - The Ambassador in charge of Africa, Mr. Mohamed Yeslim Beissat, expressed the regret of the Sahrawi Republic for the African Peace and Security Council's report ignoring the seriousness of the deterioration of political, security and military relations in the North African region.
In a speech before the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, the Ambassador stressed that this deterioration is mainly due, "in our case, to the illegal occupation of parts of the Sahrawi Republic by the Kingdom of Morocco."
Mr. Mohamed Yeslim Beissat affirmed that the Moroccan flagrant violation of the ceasefire between the Sahrawi Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco on November 13, 2020, which had been in place since 1991, "not only threatens peace and security, but also threatens to aggravate the situation, especially with the involvement of foreign powers in supporting the Kingdom of Morocco militarily, security and economically, and financing its colonial war against the Sahrawi people, and the insistence of the Kingdom of Morocco on promoting expansionist policies through which it tries to involve some countries in creating further division and undermining the consensus that has always characterized our African positions."
The Sahrawi diplomat expressed the Sahrawi Republic's strong objection to the mention of "the so-called Tangier Declaration" included in the annex of the Peace and Security Council report submitted to this summit, because it is merely a public relations initiative and misleading propaganda aimed at excluding countries from the African Union, dividing it and dispersing its efforts. We warned at the last summit against such unilateral initiatives that do not represent the Union or its values and are contrary to the principles and objectives on which it was founded. This is a precedent that constitutes an attempt to involve the Union and its member states in an unjust colonial war against a member country by legitimizing these irresponsible initiatives."
The Ambassador pointed out that "Morocco, as an occupying power, cannot be a voice for peace or security on the continent as long as it unjustly occupies the territory of a member country of the Union and illegally plunders its resources."