Morocco did not attend African summit in Libya, as it suspends membership in OAU

Morocco did not attend the recent extraordinary summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) held in Libya, because it suspended membership in the organization, the Moroccan minister in charge of Maghreb, Arab and Islamic world affairs, Abdeslam Znined, said.

"When sisterly Libya invited us to attend the extraordinary summit, we informed the Libyan brothers that there was a simple move to take: correct the mistake committed by the OAU," Znined told Arabic Magazine Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

"If the so-called Polisario is expelled, Morocco can attend," he added.

According to the Moroccan Minister, the OAU is trapped in a flagrant contradiction: how can it accept the Polisario entity as member, and at the same time call for a referendum in the Sahara?

Znined, who recalled that the OAU had not accepted genuine African liberation movements against the Portuguese and French occupation, underlined that the Sahara issue was created out of the blue for pure political bargaining purposes.

The issue is now in the hands of the United Nations, which is planning to hold in July 2000 a self-determination referendum in the Sahara to decide whether the territory -- a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords -- sets up on its own or remains part of Morocco.