On Friday, Tunisian President Kais Saied received the leader of the Polisario Front, Ibrahim Ghali, sparking a new crisis between Tunisia and Morocco, which observers believe will witness other developments that may lead to a severing of relations between the two countries.
In the past, Tunisia took a neutral position on the issue of Western Sahara in order to preserve its relations with Algeria and Morocco. However, in a new development, the Tunisian president assigned an official reception to the leader of the Polisario, who arrived in Tunisia, on Friday, to participate in the Tokyo Summit for Development in Africa “TICAD 8”, on August 27 and 28.
‘Dangerous behavior’
Rabat hastened to withdraw its ambassador to Tunisia, Hassan Tarek, for consultations, and announced its boycott of the African-Japanese summit, according to a statement by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Moroccan Foreign Ministry said in its statement, Friday, “After Tunisia’s efforts to double down on negative attitudes and actions targeting the Kingdom of Morocco and its higher interests, Tunisia’s behavior within the framework of TICAD clearly confirms this approach.”
Tunisia responded with a similar move once morest Morocco, and announced, late Saturday, that it had withdrawn its ambassador from Rabat for consultations, expressing its “great astonishment at what was stated in the statement of the Kingdom of Morocco of unacceptable prejudice once morest the Tunisian Republic.”
The “Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Tunisians Abroad” said that Tunisia “has maintained its complete neutrality in the issue of Western Sahara, in compliance with international legitimacy, and this is a firm position that will not change until the concerned parties find a peaceful solution acceptable to all.”
The Tunisian Foreign Ministry said that it “categorically rejects the phrases contained in the Moroccan statement accusing our country of taking an aggressive stance towards Morocco and harming Moroccan interests,” justifying the leader’s participation in abiding by the decisions of the African Union.
Tunisian journalist and researcher in African affairs, Aid Amira, believes in an interview with Al-Hurra that “what happened today is a dangerous precedent in the history of Tunisian diplomacy,” and pointed out that “Tunisia has always adopted the principle of neutrality towards the issue of Western Sahara, but Said Today he has deviated from al-Qaeda and chose to side with the Polisario at the expense of Morocco, because the summoning and official reception of Ibrahim Ghali by Said is an implicit recognition of the so-called Polisario Front.
In its statement, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry accused Tunisia of working to “oppose Japan’s opinion by violating the preparation process for the forum and the rules established for that, and decided unilaterally to invite the separatist entity.”
The statement added that “the reception granted by the President of Tunisia to the leader of the separatists is an unprecedented and dangerous act that greatly harms the feelings and living forces of the Moroccan people.”
“What Said has done will negatively affect the nature of relations with Morocco, and we have seen the repercussions of that by summoning Rabat to its ambassador in Tunisia for consultations, and there is a possibility of an escalation of the Moroccan position if Rabat does not receive the necessary clarifications from Tunisia,” said the journalist, Ayed Amira.
Amira expects Morocco to ask Tunisia, as it was asked by Spain before, to define its position on the Sahara issue and to announce it officially and explicitly, which Tunisia will not respond to, “which will lead to the possibility of withdrawing the Moroccan ambassador from Tunisia in a first stage and then severing relations on the part of Morocco.” .
As for the Moroccan analyst, Rachid Lazraq, professor of constitutional sciences at Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra, it is likely, in an interview with Al-Hurra website, that Morocco will resort to “expelling the Tunisian ambassador and severing diplomatic relations.”
Controversy in Tunisia
This visit sparked controversy in Tunisia regarding the Tunisian official position on the Polisario Front. Observers considered it a dangerous diplomatic step that would have negative consequences for Tunisian-Moroccan relations.
The Secretary-General of the Democratic Current Party, Ghazi Chaouachi, criticized President Said on his Facebook page, saying: “After destroying the institutions of the Tunisian state, disrupting the path of democratic transition and raping all authorities, he is now heading towards destroying our relations with brotherly and friendly countries and harming our diplomatic and economic interests that bind us with them.” According to the text of the post.
Photos of the reception were absent from the official page of the Tunisian president on Facebook, while the Tunisian media and the Saharawi News Agency of the Polisario Front reported them.
Is there a role for Algeria?
Observers believe that the reception of the Polisario leader in Tunisia comes once morest the background of the recent rapprochement between Algeria and Tunisia, as the Tunisian and Algerian authorities reopened the land borders between them in mid-July, following closing them for more than two years due to the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, and travelers began crossing from both sides. at a normal pace.
In his interview with Al-Hurra, Rachid Lazraq accuses Tunisia of “transforming from a state of roles into a back garden and has become a playground for the military of Algeria, even Gaddafi (the late Libyan leader), who was a strong supporter, did not dare to do such an act,” as he put it.
In turn, the Tunisian journalist, Ayed Amira, says that “Morocco considers the Western Sahara its first national issue, and it is the determinant of its diplomatic positions, so we will see a major escalation towards Tunisia.”
He adds that “Tunisia is the only loser from what happened today, as it will not benefit from Ghali’s visit and his official reception. On the contrary, relations with Morocco will be strained, and Algeria is the only winner of what happened.”
The Polisario Front celebrated the reception given to its leader in Tunisia, and its representative in Europe, Abi Bushraya al-Bashir, wrote in a tweet on Twitter that the Tunis summit “confirms the reality of the Sahrawi Republic as a founding and active member of the African Union.”
A while ago, at the airport #carthage International, Tunisian President #Qais_Saeed Sahrawi President receives #Ibrahim_GaliOn the eve of the eighth summit of the partnership #the African Union And #Japan. following the summit #brusselstop #Tunisia Dispel the illusions of the store, and confirm the reality #Sahrawi_Republic A founding and active member of the African Union. pic.twitter.com/KELczWT6yx
– Room Oubi Bachir (@oubibachir) August 26, 2022
The Japan-Africa Summit will be held on Saturday and Sunday in Tunisia, and the “Tokyo International Symposium on Development in Africa” (TICAD 8) officially aims to “discuss how to create a sustainable world together” in the “complex context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the situation in Ukraine”.
About 5,000 people are expected to attend the symposium between the opening photo and the closing press conference on Sunday followingnoon, including regarding 30 heads of state and government from across the African continent.
