The Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union, Taieb Baccouche, reacted to the diplomatic crisis which broke out last Friday between Tunisia and Morocco against the backdrop of the welcome reserved for the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, by the President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed, on the occasion of Ticad 8 which was held on August 27 and 28, 2022 in Tunis.
In a statement released on the occasion, he said:
“Since the General Secretariat of the Arab Maghreb Union has regained its natural place within the eight African regional groupings and has been fully integrated into all African structures and institutions, we have exploited the opportunities African summits, UN, Arab and Mediterranean meetings, including the 5+5 structure of the western Mediterranean, with a view to bringing together the decision-making executive councils of Maghreb heads of state or foreign ministers.
Without ever losing hope of achieving the unanimity required to achieve these objectives.
At a time when we advised the Tunisian side to take a reconciliation initiative following the severance of diplomatic relations between Algeria and Morocco, and following another call for the holding of a retreat of Maghreb foreign ministers with the secretary general dedicated to a political solution in Libya, we witness with regret and bitterness another missed meeting on the occasion of TICAD 8 held in Tunisia closed on August 28, 2022, like the efforts we have made during TICAD 7 in Japan in 2019.
Worse still, we have been surprised by a new crisis in relations between Tunisia and Morocco. The relationship is going through an ordeal in addition to those experienced by the Greater Maghreb.
For all these reasons, we are taking the opportunity of the positive response from Libya and Mauritania to our last invitation to organize a Maghreb retreat of foreign ministers with the Secretary-General, devoted to the Libyan crisis, to publicly launch an appeal to the Maghreb States to respond positively to this appeal to hold the retreat of the five countries and make it a success by achieving the following objectives:
1_ development of a peace plan in Libya
2_ organization of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the retreat to solve bilateral problems
3_ appointment of a new Secretary-General to continue the action we have carried out at the Maghreb, African and international levels over the past six years (from August 1, 2016, to August 1, 2022).
In the meantime, I will continue to assume all my responsibilities. We cherish the hope that this will contribute to the development of common Maghreb action and that the latest acute crises mark the premises of Salvation, the return of fraternity, harmony, and complementarity in accordance with the objectives set since the founding of the Maghreb Union, on February 17, 1989, in Marrakech“.
During the night from Friday to Saturday, a lively exchange by press releases took place between Moroccan and Tunisian Foreign Affairs after the publication of photos showing the reception, by the President of the Tunisian Republic, Kaïs Saïed, of Brahim Ghali, leader of the Sahrawi independence movement.
Taking a dim view of Mr. Ghali’s participation in Ticad 8, Morocco did not hesitate to express its dissatisfaction. In addition to issuing an incendiary statement, the Kingdom recalled its ambassador to Tunis. Tunisian diplomacy reacted in the same way.
