Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican minister of foreign affairs, Veronica Macamo, has received a special envoy of the self-proclaimed Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, a territory in Western Sahara whose autonomy opposes Morocco and the Polisario Front.
She received “Ambassador Mohamed Yeslem Baosat, special envoy of the President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Brahim Ghali, who came to Mozambique to deliver a message from the head of state,” a statement said.
During the audience with the Mozambican minister, Baosat explained that the visit served “to inform the Mozambican authorities about the current situation in Western Sahara,” the statement added.
The Saharawi representative “reaffirmed confidence in the support of the African Union (AU) and African countries, in the framework of the decisions and resolutions of the continental organisation on the Sahara,” the document concluded.
The issue is not new for Mozambique: former president Joaquim Chissano was the AU’s chosen special envoy for Western Sahara and was heard in March by the AU Peace and Security Council when it called for peace between Morocco and the Polisario Front after a new wave of military tension.
AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui announced in February the intention to hold a summit devoted to the evolution of the conflict and defended the right of the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination through a referendum.
The question of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony considered a “non-self-governing territory” by the UN in the absence of a definitive agreement, has for decades opposed Morocco and the separatists of the Polisario Front, a group supported by Algeria.
All attempts to resolve the conflict have so far failed.
Morocco, which controls nearly 80% of this vast desert territory, proposes a plan for autonomy under its sovereignty, but the Polisario Front is asking for a referendum on self-determination.
