Cape Verde, Togo to Open Consulates in Morocco’s Western Sahara

Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration Rui Alberto De Figueiredo Soares at Wednesday'e event. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration Rui Alberto De Figueiredo Soares at Wednesday'e event. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Cape Verde, Togo to Open Consulates in Morocco’s Western Sahara

Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration Rui Alberto De Figueiredo Soares at Wednesday'e event. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration Rui Alberto De Figueiredo Soares at Wednesday'e event. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Cape Verde and Togo will will soon open general consulates in Dakhla, Western Sahara’s second largest city.

Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration Rui Alberto De Figueiredo Soares and Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey made the announcement following talks with their Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita on the sidelines of the first Ministerial Conference of the Atlantic African States.

Cape Verde will also soon open an embassy in Rabat.

Bourita expressed his gratitude to Cape Verde for its support of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

He recalled Cape Verde's commendable participation at the African Ministerial Conference on the African Union's support to the United Nations political process on the regional dispute over the Sahara. The event was held in Marrakech on March 25, 2019.

Twenty-five consulates have been opened so far in the Western Sahara region. There are 13 consulates in Dakhla and 12 in Laayoune.



Israel Not Seeking War Escalation, but Preparing for All Scenarios, Defense Minister Says 

Buildings that were damaged in an Israeli strike the previous day in Beirut, Lebanon, 31 July 2024. (EPA)
Buildings that were damaged in an Israeli strike the previous day in Beirut, Lebanon, 31 July 2024. (EPA)
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Israel Not Seeking War Escalation, but Preparing for All Scenarios, Defense Minister Says 

Buildings that were damaged in an Israeli strike the previous day in Beirut, Lebanon, 31 July 2024. (EPA)
Buildings that were damaged in an Israeli strike the previous day in Beirut, Lebanon, 31 July 2024. (EPA)

Israel is not seeking to escalate war, but is preparing to handle all scenarios, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday while praising forces who carried out an attack on a Hezbollah commander in Beirut overnight.

During his visit, Gallant spoke with air defense officers regarding Israel's killing of the top commander in Iran-backed Hezbollah, who Israel says was responsible for a rocket attack on Saturday that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

"The performance (last) night in Beirut was focused, high quality and contained," Gallant said, according to a statement from his office.

"We don't want war, but we are preparing for all possibilities, and that means you must be prepared as needed, and we will do our job at all the levels above you," he said.