Sahara: Gabon; Sao Tome and Principe reaffirm support for Morocco’s territorial integrity

Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe have reaffirmed support for Morocco’s territorial integrity, for the Moroccanness of the Sahara and for the Morocco-proposed Autonomy Plan.

The remarks were made in separate joint statements issued in Rabat Wednesday following talks between the Foreign Ministers of Gabon Michaël Moussa-Adamo, and of Sao Tome and principe Edite Dos Ramos Ten Jua with their Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita.

Michaël Moussa-Adamo has thus reiterated his country’s support for the Moroccanness of the Sahara as well as its full support for the Autonomy Plan which constitutes “the only credible and realistic solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara”.

The Gabonese top diplomat expressed his country’s support for the efforts made by the United Nations, enshrining the pre-eminence of this Moroccan initiative for the final settlement of the Sahara dispute, within the framework of respect of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara.

The Gabonese Minister also underlined that the opening by his country of a Consulate General in Laayoune in January 2020 is in line with the dynamics of international recognition of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom.

On this basis, the two sides have agreed to work together for the respect of the standards and procedures relating to this issue within the bodies of the African Union (AU), in particular Decision 693 of the African Union which established the exclusivity of the UN as a framework for the search for a solution to the regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, the joint statement said.

During their talks, Michaël Moussa-Adamo and Bourita welcomed the perfect convergence of views of the two countries on the various regional and international issues of common interest, as well as the shared will of the two Heads of State, King Mohammed VI and President Ali Bongo Ondimba, to make of the exemplary and fraternal relations between the two countries “a model of inter-African cooperation, based on the values of solidarity, exchange and sharing”.

The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe also reaffirmed its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco.

“I want to reaffirm the support of Sao Tome and Principe to the territorial integrity of the Kingdom as I have expressed it on several occasions,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edite Dos Ramos Ten Jua, in a joint statement released following talks with her Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita.

The Official also reiterated her country’s support for the Morocco-proposed autonomy plan as the only realistic solution to resolve the artificial dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.

She likewise hailed the efforts made to achieve a lasting solution to this conflict within the framework of the Kingdom’s sovereignty and under the exclusive aegis of the United Nations.

The two African officials were both visiting Rabat to take part in the 1st Ministerial Meeting of the Atlantic African States held at the initiative of Morocco on June 8.