The Algerian delegation to the preparatory meeting for the ninth edition of the Tokyo Conference on African Development is said to have provided a diplomatic passport to a Saharawi representative. His presence caused an incident with the Moroccan representation. Tokyo had to point out that it did not recognize the Sahrawi movement.
You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it. The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly prohibited. For more information, consult our general conditions of sale. For any authorization request, contact syndication@lemonde.fr. As a subscriber, you can gift up to five items per month to one of your loved ones using the “Gift an Item” feature. https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/08/26/au-japon-marocains-et-algeriens-en-viennent-aux-mains-au-sujet-du-sahara-occidental_6295610_3212.html The preparatory meeting for the ninth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad) is not of the type which usually attract media attention. This was without counting the conflict between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara. On Saturday August 24, a violent incident took place between Algerian and Moroccan diplomats before delighting social networks. The video shows a Moroccan representative jumping on a table to grab the sign bearing the inscription “Sahrawi Republic” deposited by Lamine Baali, ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to the African Union, of which it is a member. An Algerian diplomat then rushes at his Moroccan counterpart, belts him and pins him to the ground. Separated by speakers, the two men continue to insult each other.
You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it. The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly prohibited. For more information, consult our general conditions of sale. For any authorization request, contact syndication@lemonde.fr. As a subscriber, you can gift up to five items per month to one of your loved ones using the “Gift an Item” feature. https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/08/26/au-japon-marocains-et-algeriens-en-viennent-aux-mains-au-sujet-du-sahara-occidental_6295610_3212.html The Sahrawi representative, representative of the Polisario Front considered by Morocco as a “separatist movement without legal existence”, would have attended the conference thanks to a diplomatic passport provided by Algeria. Host of the meeting which ended on Sunday August 25, Japan had to point out that it did not recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic – an emanation of the Polisario Front in conflict with Morocco but supported by Algeria – and had not invited it. This is not the first time that a Sahrawi delegation has sought to interfere in the Ticad. In 2017, in Mozambique, local authorities attempted to impose the participation of the Polisario Front, which provoked an altercation with the Moroccan delegation. Rabat had also denounced “insidious maneuvers by the Mozambican authorities” to prevent him from participating in the meeting. “Morocco’s serious efforts” In 2022, during the eighth edition of Ticad, organized in Tunis, Tunisia unilaterally invited Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front. Japan, co-organizer of the event, took it badly.
