A number of countries have expressed their support for a future status of Western Sahara as an autonomous part of Morocco. Picture: File
Ecuador announced a bold decision to suspend recognition of the so-called Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Morocco’s official news agency Maghreb Arabe Press (MAP) reported on Tuesday.
Ecuador had initially acknowledged the SADR in 1983, with the establishment of a purported embassy in 2009.
The SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara.
SADR claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony; however, at present the SADR government controls approximately 20-25% of the territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the “Liberated Territories”, while Morocco claims its territories as the “Southern Provinces”.
As of September 2022, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is recognized by 46 out of a total of 193 United Nations member states.
The SADR has been a member of the African Union (AU), formerly the Organization of African Unity (OAU), since 1984. At the time, Morocco withdrew from the OAU in protest, until 2017, when Morocco again joined the African Union.
The news agency further reported that Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, Gabriela Sommerfeld, conveyed the decision to her Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, during a phone call.
She also confirmed that a formal notification had been sent to the representatives of the separatists in Quito.
According to the news agency, the decision aligns with the momentum driven by King Mohammed VI in recent years, aimed at affirming Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and promoting the Autonomy Plan as the sole basis for resolving this regional dispute.
Ecuador’s decision to suspend recognition of the “SADR” marks a new chapter in relations between Morocco and the Latin American country.
The Arab League supports “Moroccan territorial integrity”, without further specification, and withdrew maps “harming Morocco’s territorial integrity”. In 2020, the United States under Donald Trump was the first country to recognise Morocco’s unilateral annexation of Western Sahara.
While some countries reiterate support for the “territorial integrity of Morocco”, a number of countries have expressed their support for the future status of Western Sahara as an autonomous part of Morocco.
Besides Mexico, Algeria, Iran, Venezuela, Vietnam, Nigeria, and South Africa, India was the largest middle power to have ever recognised SADR, having allowed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to open an embassy in New Delhi in 1985. However, India withdrew its recognition in 2000.
The Star
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