The UN is the only organization entitled to broker a settlement of the Sahara issue, said Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat in a statement that confirms AU’s new-found neutrality in the regional conflict. He said a troika made of the previous, incumbent and upcoming chairmen of the African Union is the only body that can make statements on the Sahara in support of the UN process. Even at the terminological level, the AU’s official statements stopped repeating Algerian propaganda. With two-thirds of African countries not recognizing the Algerian-sponsored separatist entity, the Polisairo is becoming an aberration that disrupts the works of the AU commissions. Prior to Morocco’s return to the African Union, 28 states have explicitly asked the chairman of the African Union to freeze the membership of the Polisario in the African Union.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 10, 2020 10:07 UTC