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In response to the Polisario's exclusion from the Africa-Indonesia forum and the Africa-China summit, Algeria lowered the level of its representation at both events. Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf abstained from attending the Bali meeting, held on August 2-3 in Indonesia, and the delegation was instead led by Yacine El Mahdi Oualid, Minister of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups, and Micro-enterprises.
In his speech, Oualid defended the Polisario's cause, stating, «There is one people in Africa still fighting for their freedom, and that is the people of Western Sahara. Their suffering reminds us that there is still a long road ahead. Independence and self-determination remain incomplete».
Polisario media praised his remarks and also highlighted the speech by Salah Goudjil, President of Algeria’s upper house, at the Indonesia-Africa parliamentary forum. However, the same outlets did not mention any support for Polisario from African delegations during the event.
While China did not invite the Polisario to its cooperation summit, the Algerian delegation was led by Ahmed Attaf. In the absence of President Tebboune, Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane handled Algeria's representation, much like at the Russia-Africa summit in July 2023 in St. Petersburg, or the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kampala, Uganda, in January 2024.
Algeria also signaled disapproval at the Saudi-African summit held in Riyadh in November 2023, where it only sent a member of its diplomatic representation to the Arab League. At the Italy-Africa summit in Rome on January 29, 2024, the Algerian delegation, led by Attaf, witnessed the Polisario’s exclusion despite Algeria’s strong economic ties with Rome. Morocco, however, was represented by Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.
For the record, at the last meeting of the African Union's Executive Council on July 18 in Accra, Ghana, Ahmed Attaf urged African countries to condemn «the exclusion of a founding member of our organization». His plea, however, did not achieve the intended result.
