Morocco will "never recognise" Western Sahara's independence despite rejoining the African Union after a decades-long dispute over the territory, Deputy Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said in published remarks Sunday.
Last Monday, the AU approved Morocco's re-entry into the bloc which it quit in 1984 in protest at the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) declared by the Polisario Front at the height of a war for the territory.
"Not only does Morocco not recognise - and will never recognise - this so-called entity," Bourita told website Le Desk in an interview.
"It will (also) redouble its efforts so the small minority of countries, particularly African, which recognise it, change their positions."
AU membership would not change Morocco's stance that the Western Sahara is an integral part of its territory, he said.
Monday's summit in Addis Ababa followed an intense diplomatic battle with the Polisario's backers, led by Algeria and South Africa, which opposed Morocco rejoining the AU.
Those countries "have spent months doing everything they can to prevent our return, until the last minute," a senior Moroccan diplomat who did not wish to be identified told AFP.
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