RABAT – Morocco is to close its embassy in Venezuela because of a dispute over the North African kingdom’s control of the disputed Western Sahara.
Morocco’s Foreign Ministry cited the ‘growing hostility’ of Venezuelan authorities toward Morocco’s territorial integrity, a reference to the Western Sahara.
An Algeria-based rebel group known as the Polisario Front is trying to secure independence for the local Sahrawi population of Western Sahara and create a republic. Both the rebels and Morocco lay claim to the mineral-rich region in a dispute that has lasted more than 30 years.
Morocco also pointed to unspecified measures taken by Venezuela’s government ‘to support the phony SADR’ – the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic proclaimed by the rebels – in its statement Thursday. Morocco’s Foreign Ministry said it was moving the embassy in Venezuela to the Dominican Republic. – Nampa-AP
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