Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister, Kono Taro, reiterated that his country does not recognize the so-called SADR and expressed his deep regrets about the incidents that marked a TICAD meeting in Maputo.
During talks on Friday with Morocco’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister, Nasser Bourita, the Japanese top diplomat expressed "his deep regrets about the incidents and the confusion during the opening session of a TICAD ministerial meeting."
In the same context, Kono Taro reiterated "the non-recognition of his country of the pseudo-rasd", adding that Japan's position not to invite SADR to TICAD meetings remains unchanged.
He also expressed his "amazement" at how Mozambican authorities had to bypass access procedures to introduce uninvited members of the Polisario through a backdoor, while denying access to delegations holding badges and duly accredited. Even members of the Embassy of Japan have been brutalized.
According to the Japanese minister, this is a serious security problem. In this regard, Japan has vigorously protested to the host country about this inadmissible behavior.
The Japanese minister said that his country will work to resolve this organizational problem definitively.
He said, in this context, that the next ministerial meeting and TICAD summit will take place in Japan, and such incidents will not happen again.
The ministerial meeting of TICAD, held in Maputo (August 23-25), was marked by numerous twists. Indeed, despite Japan's refusal of the presence of the puppet entity in accordance with international legality and practices within TICAD since 1993, Mozambican authorities sought to impose during the meeting the presence of the ghostly entity, which was not invited by the Japanese side.
Thus, the senior officials preparatory meeting could not be held, due to the disagreement on the format but also to the refusal of some countries, notably Japan, to allow the presence of the so-called "SADR".
Moreover, the ministerial meeting has also been considerably delayed, the source said.
TICAD was launched in 1993 to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners. Meetings are led by Japan and co-organised by the United Nations, UNDP, the World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC).
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