Marruecos llama a consultas a su embajador en Túnez tras una visita de Brahim Ghali

Morocco has "immediately" recalled its ambassador to Tunisia for consultations after Tunisian President Kais Saied invited Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali to participate in a summit on Japan-Africa cooperation.

"After having recently multiplied negative positions and acts towards the Kingdom of Morocco and its higher interests, Tunisia's attitude in the framework of the TICAD (Forum for Japan-Africa Cooperation) process blatantly confirms its hostility," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Rabat has also decided not to participate in the 8th TICAD Summit taking place this weekend. However, Nasser Bourita's Ministry clarified that this decision "does not call into question the commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco to the interests of Africa and its action with the African Union, nor the Kingdom's commitment within TICAD".

The note also states that these events "in no way affect the strong and intact ties between the Moroccan and Tunisian peoples, who are united by a common history and a shared destiny".

Tunisia, for its part, has also responded by recalling its ambassador to Rabat for consultations. The foreign ministry has expressed "categorical rejection" of the Moroccan communiqué, stressing its "refusal to interfere in internal affairs and the sovereignty of national decisions", as reported by Tunisia Africa News Agency.

Tunisia's invitation to Ghali comes just days after Morocco's King Mohamed VI reiterated the Kingdom's position on the Sahara. "The Sahara issue is the prism through which Morocco looks at the world", the monarch stressed, adding that he hoped that other "partner countries that adopt ambiguous positions will clarify their positions on the Moroccan Sahara issue".

Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch condemned "this act of hostility which goes against brotherhood and friendship", reports Le360. "We can only denounce this hostile and incomprehensible act of the Tunisian president with regard to the territorial integrity of Morocco", declared Anis Birou, a member of Akhannouch's political party, RNI.

As he told Le360, Birou believes that "this is a provocative attitude that offends the feelings of 40 million Moroccans, and is reprehensible, because it denotes a serious narrow-mindedness".

Other political parties such as Istiqlal have also condemned Tunisia's invitation to Ghali. "Today, the Tunisian president showed great frivolity in the management of Tunisia and its interests. This country is led by a man who is no longer in control of its decisions," says one of the executive committee members, Aziz Hilali.

The Moroccan media have echoed the news, considering Tunisia's action as "a great betrayal of the Kingdom of Morocco", as Rue20 writes. "With this negative Tunisian gesture, Kais Saied is destroying the excellent relations of friendship and cooperation that exist between Morocco and Tunisia", adds the media.

The head of Moroccan diplomacy, Nasser Bourita, has cancelled a meeting with the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, scheduled for September.

The Spanish diplomat said in a recent interview with RTVE that the Spanish government's position on the Western Sahara conflict is that of the EU, which consists of "defending the holding of a consultation so that the Sahrawi people can decide how they want their future to be".

Bourita spoke out shortly after this, pointing out that these statements were an "error of expression" which "do not reflect the position of Spain or the EU on the Sahara".