Polisario Leader Humiliated at Addis Ababa Airport

A plane of the Algerian airline carrying head of the Polisario separatist group, Barhim Ghali, was left waiting for long in Addis Ababa airport where no one came to welcome the President of the self-declared republic.

No African Union or Ethiopian official came to receive the separatist leader who arrived in Addis Ababa to attend an African Union Summit.

As a relic of the Cold War, Polisario officials are aware that their days in the African Union are numbered as the continental body is steadily adopting a neutral position on the Sahara issue acknowledging the primacy of the UN peace process.

Morocco’s return to the African Union is slowly pulling the rug from under the feet of Algeria and the Polisario as the Kingdom is fostering ties with countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Rwanda to mention but a few countries who were until a recent past unconditional supporters of the Polisario and who have all backed Morocco’s return to the African Union, after an absence of 34 years.

Last year, Zambia officially withdrew recognition of the Algerian-based separatist entity.

Over the last years, 43 countries have withdrawn their recognition of the SADR entity.

On the African continent, only 18 countries continue to support the Polisario.