Few days after the visit of the leader of Polisario front, Brahim Ghali, Irish embassy in Morocco said that Dublin do not recognise the self-proclaimed Sahraoui arabe republic.
The Irish Embassy in Rabat has issued a statement denying that the visit of Polisario leader Brahim Ghali in Dublin was official and that he had any contact with senior Irish authorities
The alleged intention of the Polisario Front to present as an official visit the presence in Dublin, capital of Ireland, of its Secretary General, Brahim Ghali, has provoked an official denial with the publication of a statement by the Irish Embassy in Rabat.
The statement affirms categorically that the presence in Ireland of the Polisario was of a private character and not official as the media close to the separatist group have affirmed.
It states that “the visit of Polisario Front representatives to Ireland last week was a private visit” and was organized by a pro-Polisario micro-association active in Ireland. “The Irish government is in no way involved in or responsible for this activity.”
The statement assures that “the separatists were not received by any member of the Irish government” and that their visit “was not in response to an official invitation. The statement continues that “despite their insistent requests and the support of their intermediaries, the separatists did not hold talks – official or unofficial – with the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, or his advisors, nor with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin.
Nor were they received by representatives of the Irish Parliament. The presidents of both Houses, as well as the chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs have refused to receive them. Only a few parliamentarians sympathetic to the separatist group held a meeting, in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the Parliament.
The official Irish statement underlines that Ireland’s position on the question of the Moroccan Sahara has not only not changed, but has been clear and firm in stating that Ireland does not recognize the pseudo-separatist republic.
It points out that Ireland, which does not and has never recognized the pseudo SADR, maintains through its government a constructive official position of full support for the UN-led process and the efforts of the Secretary General to reach a final and mutually acceptable political settlement of the Sahara issue.