On Thursday the Moroccan delegation present in Maputo to attend the Tokyo International Conference of Africa's Development (TICAD) has been prevented from taking part to the conference after protesting against the presence of a Polisario delegation. This Friday and during a meeting held with Nasser Bourita, the Japanese Foreign Minister has expressed «his deep regrets» over the incident that took place the previous day. The Tokyo International Conference of Africa's Development (TICAD), an initiative launched by Japan since 1993 and organized this year in Mozambique, has seen some chaotic events. A scandalous video published by Eco Inspirations on Thursday was showing the Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita being banned from entering the conference room booked for the African-Japanese meeting. Bourita alongside members of the Moroccan delegation were struggling to get into the room and were being blocked. Jeune Afrique explains that «after protesting against the presence of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) representatives invited by Mozambique, the host country of this event, the Moroccan delegation, headed by Nasser Bourita, was prevented from accessing the meeting room». «We have asked for their withdrawal from the meeting presided by the UN which does not recognize the RASD. Japan shares the same opinion and refused their presence. However, the Mozambique wanted to force them in by preventing us from entering the room», said a member of the Moroccan delegation interviewed by the panafrican magazine. Despite the incident, the Moroccan delegation took part to the summit On Friday, Nasser Bourita held talks with his Japanese counterpart, Kono Taro, as a follow-up to the TICAD ministerial meeting in Maputo. «In this meeting, the Japanese minister expressed his deep regrets following the incident and the confusion that happened amid the opening session of the TICAD ministerial follow-up meeting,» MAP reported. «[The Japanese Minister] was surprised that the authorities of Mozambique had bypassed access procedures to introduce uninvited members of the Polisario through a backdoor, while denying access to delegations carrying badges and duly accredited. Even members of the Japanese embassy were brutalized.» MAP news agency also informed that «Japan has protested vigorously to the host country for this inadmissible behavior». The Japanese Foreign Minister «has also said that Japan will work on resolving this organizational problem definitively». «In the same context, Mr Kono Taro reiterated the non-recognition of his country of «SADR», and insisted that Japan's position on not inviting them to TICAD remains unchanged». Kono Taro promised that «such incidents will not happen again» at the next ministerial meeting and the TICAD summit planned to take place in Japan. MAP also stated that even after the incident on Thursday, the delegation was able to take part to the Africa-Japan Summit. «Seeing that they did not intend to accept the presence of the Polisario, the Foreign Minister of Mozambique, Oldemiro Balói introduced the Saharawi representatives to his own delegation and offered them reserved seats for Mozambique,» said Young Africa. «Faced with what has happened, the Japanese authorities, which sponsor TICAD, are seriously considering the idea of holding all summits in Japan,» the source said. Mozambique opposed Morocco's accession to the African Union at the 28th summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, held on the 30th and 31st of January 2017. Only a few days after the Pan-African summit, the leader of the Polisario front, Brahim Ghali traveled to Maputo for a three-day visit in an attempt to preserve his privileged relationship with Cuba from the Cold War era. Since the return of Morocco to the AU, the Front has been trying to keep its allies in Southern Africa, a region which is still largely away from the influence of the Kingdom.
