Western Sahara dispute spills into Tunisia
A diplomatic crisis is brewing in the Maghreb region amid tension between Morocco and Tunisia after President Kais Saied received the leader of the Polisario Front.
TUNIS — Tunisian President Kais Saied’s decision to receive Brahim Ghali — the leader of the Polisario Front, a rebel group fighting for independence in the Western Sahara — late last month has developed into a diplomatic crisis with repercussions spilling into the sports world.
The Royal Moroccan Handball Federation announced Aug. 29 that its clubs will not participate in the 37th Arab Club Championship of Handball set to take place in Tunisia.
The announcement came shortly after Ghali visited Tunisia to participate in the the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8), held on Aug. 27-28.
More than 30 heads of state participated in the conference, the first since the COVID pandemic began and the second held in Africa after Kenya hosted the conference in 2016. The TICAD summit, which Tokyo created in 1993 and is held every three years, was attended by the Polisario Front leader.
