Japan Denounces, Rejects Polisario Front’s Participation at TICAD

Polisario Front movement leader Brahim Ghali attends the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), in Tunis, Tunisia, 27 August 2022. (EPA)
Polisario Front movement leader Brahim Ghali attends the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), in Tunis, Tunisia, 27 August 2022. (EPA)
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Japan Denounces, Rejects Polisario Front’s Participation at TICAD

Polisario Front movement leader Brahim Ghali attends the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), in Tunis, Tunisia, 27 August 2022. (EPA)
Polisario Front movement leader Brahim Ghali attends the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), in Tunis, Tunisia, 27 August 2022. (EPA)

Japan condemns the participation of the separatist Polisario Front in the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was held on August 27 and 28 in the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

The Japanese delegation made a statement during the proceedings of the first plenary session of the summit, in which it reaffirmed that “TICAD is a forum for discussion on the development of Africa,” Morocco’s official news agency MAP reported.

“The presence of any entity that Japan does not recognize as a sovereign state at TICAD meetings, including the senior officials meeting and the summit meeting, does not affect Japan’s stance regarding the status of this entity,” the statement stressed, in reference to the Polisario’s self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

It reiterated the position already expressed by Tokyo that the invitations to the summit, which were to be issued exclusively and jointly by Tunisia and Japan, were sent only to states officially recognized by Tokyo and not subject to sanctions by the African Union.

The host country, consequently, imposed a fait accompli on Japan’s delegation, undermining the solemnity and serenity that should have marked this important meeting for the Japanese-African partnership.

On August 19, Japan expressed its categorical and unequivocal rejection of the AU Commission’s invitation to the Polisario to attend the summit, saying it violated the procedure duly agreed.

Tunisia dismissed Japan’s objection.

Morocco, meanwhile, recalled its Tunis ambassador for consultations and cancelled its own participation in the high-profile conference, especially after Tunisian President Kais Saied welcomed Polisario chief Brahim Ghali at Carthage International Airport.



Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
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Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun told lawmakers on Thursday that he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah's arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

In a first round of voting Thursday, Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. Of the rest, 37 lawmakers cast blank ballots and 14 voted for “sovereignty and the constitution.”
In the second round, he received 99 votes.

In his speech in parliament, Aoun also pledged to carry out reforms to the judicial system and fight corruption.

He promised to control the country’s borders and “ensure the activation of the security services and to discuss a strategic defense policy that will enable the Lebanese state to remove the Israeli occupation from all Lebanese territories” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has not yet withdrawn from dozens of villages.

He also vowed to reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs.”

Thursday’s vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.