Manama: Five member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have pulled out of the Arab-African summit being held in Equatorial Guinea.
Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE said they were withdrawing from the summit in solidarity with Morocco which objected to the participation of the Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to set up an independent state in the Western Sahara.
The GCC, which also comprises Kuwait, was established in 1981.
Anis Birou, Morocco’s minister in charge of Moroccans living abroad and migration affairs, reportedly said at the preparatory meeting in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, that his country was against the presence of a delegation representing the Polisario at the summit.
“Morocco has made great efforts with African countries to resolve this problem, but some countries have prevented it,” he reportedly said.
Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s foreign minister, said, “Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries were withdrawing from Arab-African summit in solidarity with Morocco following the insistence of the organisers to invite the Polisario.”
“The Kingdom of Morocco has a shining record of supporting African countries in times of need, and a failed separatist movement cannot live up to Morocco’s esteemed status or its valued stances,” Shaikh Khalid posted to his more than 335,000 followers on Twitter.
