Morocco recalled its ambassador to Tunisia on Friday after Tunisian President Kais Saied received the head of a movement seeking independence for the Sahara region.
The Moroccan foreign ministry said Tunisia's decision to invite Polisario leader Brahim Ghali to a Japanese development summit for Africa in Tunis this weekend was "a serious and unprecedented act that deeply hurts the feelings of the Moroccan people and its forces".
Tunisia said on Saturday that it was recalling its ambassador to Rabat for consultation in response to Morocco's decision. Tunisia’s foreign ministry said the country maintained "neutrality” over the issue of Morocco’s Sahara region.
Morocco controls 80 per cent of the region while the rest is held by the Polisario movement, which fought a 15-year war with Morocco after Spanish forces withdrew in 1975 and demanded a referendum on independence.
Morocco has offered limited autonomy to the phosphate and fisheries-rich region but insists it must remain under its sovereignty.
On Friday, the Moroccan foreign ministry said the country would no longer take part in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development being hosted by Tunis.
It also accused Tunisia of having recently "multiplied negative positions" against Morocco, and said its decision to host Mr Ghali "confirms its hostility in a blatant way".
Tunisia’s foreign ministry said Mr Ghali was invited to attend the summit by the African Union, which recognises the Sahara region as a member although African states are split over both the Polisario and the territory's independence.
Mr Ghali had also received a direct invitation to the summit from the president of the African Commission, the ministry said.
It is not the first time that Mr Ghali's travels have sparked Moroccan anger.
He visited Spain in April last year to be treated for Covid-19, sparking a year-long diplomatic row between Spain and Morocco.
The dispute was resolved after Spain backed Morocco's plan for limited self-rule in the Sahara region, a former Spanish colony.
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
Scoreline
Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (53')
Atletico Madrid 1
Griezmann (57')
The specs
Engine: 4 liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors placed at each wheel
Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power: 1877bhp
Torque: 2300Nm
Price: Dh7,500,00
On sale: Now
bundesliga results
Mainz 0 Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 1')
Schalke 1 (Caligiuri pen 51') Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Miranda og 81')
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on animal trafficking
