Morocco rules out reintegration of OAU before expulsion of so-called Sahrawi republic
Morocco-OAU, Politics, 9/10/1999

Morocco ruled out on Thursday any possibility to rejoin the Organization of African Unity as long as the Organization has not excluded the phantom Sahrawi Republic (SADR).

Spokesman of the Moroccan government, Khalid Alioua, said Morocco requests that the OAU corrects its mistake before the kingdom resumes its seat in the Organization.

"We are not asking the OAU to be for or against Morocco, but to abide by international legality represented by the UN settlement plan" in the Sahara, he said.

He added that the United Nations Organization, itself, which guarantees the respect of international law and supervises the holding of a referendum, has not recognized the so-called SADR republic.

Several African countries, which were recognizing the self-proclaimed republic, have withdrawn recognition of the entity.

The United Nations plans to hold in July 2000 a referendum to determine whether the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords, would remain Moroccan territory or stand up on its own, as the Algerian-backed Polisario guerilla movement is claiming.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan Socialist Party calls OAU to correct mistake   (9/9/1999)
  Several African leaders regret Morocco's absence from OAU   (9/8/1999)
  Senegal denounces a new OAU legal paradox and ambiguities of its charter   (9/8/1999)

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