An African Union legal advisor has urged the continental organization to delete reference to Western Sahara in the AU Peace and Security Council's report. The decision was neglected by the Polisario which stated that the PSC's Commissioner commented on the territorial dispute. On the sidelines of the 32nd African Union Heads of State and Government Summit, Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita announced that the Addis-Ababa summit is the first one of its kind that does not take a decision on Western Sahara issue. The Minister stated that the report by the AU Peace and Security Council does not contain any reference to the question of the Sahara, adding that this «was the subject matter of a long debate and a legal battle». Bourita told reporters in Addis Ababa that the summit «decided to be in line, in a progressive but real way, with the UN provisions on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, as did the African Union». «Today all documents have been cleaned up, those on human rights, refugees and political issues», he stated. Respecting the Nouakchott summit's decision The Minister's announcement comes after Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the African Union and legal advisor at the AU Peace and Security Council Bankole Adeoye urged in a letter the pan-African organization to abide by the decision adopted during the 31st AU summit, held in Nouakchott. During this summit, AU leaders «curtailed» the Peace and Security Council's work on the Western Sahara dispute and assigned a troika of heads of state to report directly to AU assembly. South Africa joins the African Union's presidential troika on the Western Sahara issue In his letter the legal Counsel stated that the said «decision clearly precludes the Peace and Security Council (PSC), either at Ambassadorial or Ministerial levels, to raise, cite or refer to the situation in Western Sahara, in any way or form». In the letter signed on February the 8th, Adeoye wrote that he conveys that «the reference to Western Sahara should be completely deleted from the draft PSC report». For the Polisario the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security referred to Western Sahara Although the decision of the AU legal Counsel was clear enough, the Polisario Front had a different version of the story. On its press agency, the Front wrote that AU Commissioner for the Peace and Security Council commented on the situation in Western Sahara while presenting his report on the peace situation in Africa. According to the same source, Smail Chargui referred to the Western Sahara peace process carried by the United Nations. «Chargui welcomed the commitment of all parties and their constructive action aimed at achieving a just, long-lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara». On the other hand, the AU Peace and Security Commissioner recalled the situation of «Sahrawi refugees», the same source says, stressing that Chargui voiced the «African Union's interest in the issue». For the record, the Peace and Security Council's report on the peace situation in Africa has not bee made public yet.
