Morocco recalled on Friday its ambassador to Tunisia for consultations. The decision came a few hours after Tunisia President Kais Saied received Polisario leader Brahim Ghali at Tunis international airport.
Brahim Ghali arrived in Tunisia to participate in the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
In response, Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a communique, and announced its decision to not take part in the TICAD Summit which will take place in Tunisia on August 27-28.
“After having recently multiplied negative positions and acts with regard to the Kingdom of Morocco and its higher interests, Tunisia’s attitude within the framework of the TICAD process confirms blatant hostility,” the ministry said.
Describing the situation as a “serious and unprecedented acts,” the ministry said that Tunisia defied Japan’s recommendation by its unilateral decision to invite the separatist leader.
“Faced with this hostile and detrimental attitude to the fraternal relations that the two countries have always maintained the Kingdom of Morocco has decided not to participate in the 8th TICAD Summit and to immediately recall the ambassador,” the statement said.
Tunisia’s decision to invite the leader of the separatist group came a week after King Mohammed VI demanded clarity from Morocco’s partners on the Western Sahara.
During his speech commemorating the 59th anniversary of the Revolution of King and People on August 20, King Mohammed urged all Morocco’s traditional and new partners whose position on the country’s territorial integrity are “ambiguous, to clarify their positions and reconsider them in a manner that leaves no room for doubt. “
Morocco has long emphasized that its sovereignty over Western Sahara is not negotiable or can be trampled with, urging its partners to show unwavering commitment to the country’s territorial integrity.