Tokyo (Japan), August 23, 2024 (SPS) – The African Union and TICAD experts’ meeting began this morning in the Japanese capital Tokyo, in preparation for the ministerial meeting, with the participation of the Sahrawi delegation.

During the opening and while the Japan’s representative in the meeting was giving his statement, the Moroccan delegation tried to physically attack the Sahrawi ambassador to prevent Sahrawi participation and ruin the meeting.

During the opening of the experts’ session this morning, the Sahrawi Republic’s Permanent Representative, Amb. Lamin Baali, was surprised by a Moroccan diplomat physically assaulting him in an attempt to attack him, before African participants and protocol staff intervened to remove the assailant from the hall.

The participation of the Sahrawi Republic’s delegation, like other African delegations, in today’s meeting exposed Moroccan propaganda that had been circulated recently, claiming that the Sahrawi Republic would not be able to participate in future African partnership meetings, including the TICAD summit, which will be held tomorrow and the day after at the ministerial level.

Participants in the meeting were shocked by this undiplomatic behavior, which is unusual for such international meetings that are supposed to be governed by ethics and behaviors fitting to the occasion. However, the joint presidency of the meeting between Japan and the African Union did not allow the meeting to be disrupted as Morocco wished and continued its proceedings despite the condemned incident. (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)