Morocco recalls ambassador

2004-09-15 21:11

Rabat - Morocco recalled its ambassador to South Africa on Wednesday after Pretoria formally recognised the pro-independence government in the annexed Moroccan territory of Western Sahara.

Officials in Rabat said the ambassador was recalled for consultations after what they called South Africa's "inopportune" decision to establish diplomatic ties with the self-proclaimed Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.

South Africa, a traditional backer of independence for the Western Sahara from Morocco, said its decision on Wednesday was in line with "the principles and objectives enshrined in the African Union and United Nations Charters".

But Rabat condemned the decision as "partial, surprising and inopportune", and voiced its "disappointment with the new foreign policy of the South African government," in a statement issued by the Moroccan foreign ministry.

'Has no claim to sovereignty'

The ministry was quoted by Map news agency as saying that "South African authorities are adopting a position that runs counter to international trends".

"This decision undermines the efforts of the United Nations to find a just, realistic solution that is acceptable to all the parties in this conflict," it added.

Rabat charged that Pretoria's decision failed to take into account the "thousands of real Saharawis, firmly attached to their Moroccan identities".

"Invoking the right to self-determination, South African authorities... are recognising a so-called state that has no claim to sovereignty, undermining the will of the populations concerned," it charged.

Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma earlier expressed hope there be no diplomatic "fall-out" from Rabat, adding that South Africa had explained its decision to the Moroccan government.

Morocco annexed the Western Sahara region in 1975, triggering a dispute with Algeria which backed the Polisario Front movement seeking independence for the territory bordering the Atlantic between Mauritania and Morocco.

The Polisario Front is the armed wing of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.

- AFP