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AU : The Polisario wants the Kigali summit to tackle the natural resources exploitation topic

The next African Union summit to be hosted by Kigali on the 21st of March might lead to a second confrontation between Morocco and the Polisario supporters over the exploitation of natural resources in the Sahara. The Front set the tone of the meeting through a letter sent to Paul Kagame.

Brahim Ghali sends a letter to the African Union president days before the AU next summit./Ph. DR
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On the 21st of March, the African Union will hold an extraordinary summit in Kigali, addressing the economic issues of the region. During this meeting, the Continental Free Trade Area agreement is expected to be signed. A step that was delayed for one year, especially as the Polisario is planning to be a spoilsport in the Rwandan capital.

This economic event is of a particular interest to the Front. The latter is to seek the opportunity to address its own usual agenda. In fact, the Front’s secretary general has already sent a letter to the African Union President Paul Kagame. In his message to the Rwandan president Brahim Ghali urged the «African Union to ask the European Union member states to implement the CJEU ruling, and put an end to the exploitation of natural resources on the African continent», reports the Front’s news agency (SPS).

The natural resources campaign 

The content of this letter is just a way of shedding light on the exploitation of the Sahara’s natural resources. In Kigali, the separatist movement wants to be in the spot light by referring to the CJEU’s recent ruling.

The letter sent to the Rwandan president comes as Kagame is in Algeria for a three-day visit that started on Saturday 10th of March.

«We have made very important decisions on the 31st of January summit in Addis Ababa notably on the Continental Free Trade Area agreement (ZLECA), which will be in the heart of the next summit,» Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission told media.

The Kigali meeting therefore announces another clash between Polisario supporters in the African Union and the kingdom. A confrontation that could be tougher than the one that occurred at the end of January in Addis Ababa.