During the African Union Executive Council held on Sunday in Nigeria, Morocco confronted the Polisario's allies regarding a visit of an African human rights mission to the Sahara. However, peace between Morocco and the front was brokered by Nigeria which allowed to lift the Moroccan reserves. Did the Moroccan delegation at the African Union Executive Council finally allow yesterday «the Commission of Human Rights and people's» visit Western Sahara ? All Polisario Front media platforms indicate that is not the case. The Front's «Foreign Minister», Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, even confirmed to media that Morocco «failed to remove paragraphs 88 and 89 of the report» of the Committee of Permanent Representatives calling the Sahara a «non-autonomous territory». Indeed, a mediation led by the Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama helped lift the kingdom's reserves. He also held a meeting with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, on Saturday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. Last night, Geoffrey Onyeama contented himself with stating to the press that his mediation was «successfully» maintained. An opportunity for Morocco to make its voice heard It is now up to the representatives of the Kingdom and the AU to agree on when visit of the African Commission's observation mission should to the Sahara should take place, given that its members had already been to the camps in 2013 Of Tindouf. The Polisario media have rejected the fact that Morocco agreed to the mission's visit. But the visit of the African delegation to the Sahara will be an opportunity for Rabat to present the Sahara's case before a number of representatives who were accustomed for years to listen only to the unilateral version of the story narrated by the separatist movement and its allies within the regional organization. It will also be a chance to represent the Africans the Saharawi elected representatives of the population in the territorial communities and in both Houses of Parliament. The European Union has agreed to consult them during the next signing of the trade agreements with Rabat; Then why not the African Union? While it will be difficult for Moroccans to undermine the radical views of South Africans or Zimbabweans, it is possible to convince other members of the Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to revise their positions regarding the territorial dispute. This confrontation between Morocco and Polisario supporters at the AU Executive Council officially announced the withdrawal of Nigeria from the unconditional allies of the Front. The proof is its successful mediation that tried to broker peace between the two camps. It is also a positive result for Rabat.
