DIPLOMACY
Trump expels South African ambassador
The State Department says South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, who was declared “persona non grata” last week, has until Friday to leave the country.
After Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was no longer welcome in the U.S. and posted his decision Friday on social media, South African embassy staff were summoned to the State Department and given a formal diplomatic note explaining the decision, department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
She said Rasool’s diplomatic privileges and immunities expired Monday and that he would be required to leave the United States by Friday.
South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said in a television interview on Monday that Rasool was still in the U.S. but would be leaving as soon as possible.
Rubio announced his decision in a post on X as he was flying back to the United States from a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada. In it, he accused Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Donald Trump.
His post linked to a story by the conservative Breitbart news site about a talk Rasool gave earlier Friday in Johannesburg as part of a South African think tank’s webinar. Rasool, speaking by videoconference, talked about actions taken by the Trump administration in the context of a United States where white people soon would no longer be in the majority.
It is highly unusual for the U.S. to expel a foreign ambassador, although lower-ranking diplomats are more frequently targeted with persona non grata status.
Rubio’s decision was the latest Trump administration move targeting South Africa. Trump signed an executive order last month halting funding to the country. It criticized the Black-led South African government on multiple fronts, saying it is pursuing anti-white policies at home and supporting “bad actors” in the world like the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on Monday that Rasool would give him a report when he returned home.
Ramaphosa said his government has “noted the displeasure that has been expressed by the United States,” and particularly about Rasool’s remarks, but stressed that he believed South Africa was in the process of rebuilding its relationship with the U.S.
“This is a hiccup, a hiccup we are working on straightening out,” he said.
“We will engage with the United States of America in a formal way,” Ramaphosa said. “We will do so with deep respect for them and for President Trump as well. Our relationship with the United States is going to be put on an even keel, so I would like the people of South Africa not to have sleepless nights.”
Bruce said the United States expects a certain level of respect.
“We’ve had a decent level of diplomacy with South Africa. There are some challenges, but you want people in each embassy who can actually facilitate a relationship,” she told reporters on Monday. “And these remarks were unacceptable to the United States, not just to the president, but to every American.”
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said South Africa intended to raise questions with the U.S. over Rubio seemingly announcing on social media that Rasool was no longer welcome in the U.S. before informing him of the decision.
Phiri said South Africa believed such matters should first be discussed diplomatically. “But this is the reality that we also have to contend with with this administration. That it does seem as though Twitter (X) is the preferred mode of communication,” the spokesman said in an interview on the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation.
Bruce said the meeting with South African embassy staff was on Friday. Rubio’s post went out at 4:42 p.m. on Friday.
-AP
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Morocco’s ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. Moha OU Ali Tagma has alerted that fake news are currently circulating on numerous social media platforms, falsely alleging that Moroccan law enforcement has killed several hundred migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa.
The ambassador noted to the Sports Village Square that “it is inconceivable that an event of such magnitude could have taken place without being reported by any international media agencies.
“Given the seriousness of these allegations, major global news outlets, human rights organizations, and diplomatic observers would have immediately investigated and exposed the truth.
Continuing, the ambassador remarked that the fact that no embassy of the concerned African countries has issued any statement on this matter further proves the falsehood of these claims.
“These disinformation campaigns are designed to incite division and must be firmly rejected.
“Everybody knows that Morocco, as an African country, remains fully committed to strengthening its partnership with African nations, based on mutual respect, cooperation, and shared prosperity.”
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Albania has backed Morocco’s autonomy initiative as a “serious and credible basis to settle this regional dispute” over the Moroccan Sahara.
This stance was outlined in a Joint Statement signed Saturday in Rabat by Albania’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Igli Hasani, and Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita.
Albania also underscored the importance of the Sahara issue for Morocco and acknowledged the Kingdom’s serious and credible efforts within the United Nations framework to achieve a mutually acceptable solution, according to the statement.
Both ministers also reaffirmed their support for the UN-led political process and the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Sahara, to reach a peaceful and mutually acceptable resolution to the conflict, in line with UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2756 (2024).
Albania’s stance strengthens the growing international momentum in favor of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara and the Autonomy Plan under Moroccan sovereignty, a solution endorsed by numerous countries, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him.
-MAP
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Murat Nurtleu, expressed, on Friday in Rabat, his country’s support for Morocco’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for the Autonomy Plan presented by the Kingdom in 2007.
In a Joint Statement, signed by Nurtleu and Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, following their talks, Kazakhstan expressed its support for “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco and welcomed in this regard the Autonomy Plan presented by Morocco as serious and credible basis to reach through negotiations a political solution to the Sahara issue.”
Kazakhstan’s unequivocal support for the Autonomy Plan, within the framework of the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, is of particular significance, given the country’s importance and leading role in the Central Asian region.
This significant support reinforces the Kingdom’s major achievements regarding its national cause, in line with the High Guidelines of His Majesty the King, may God assist Him.
Kazakhstan thus joins the massive international support for the Autonomy Plan as the one and only solution to the regional dispute surrounding the Kingdom’s Southern Provinces.
In the same Joint Statement, the Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, currently on an official visit to the Kingdom at the invitation of Bourita, underlined that the Republic of Kazakhstan “highly appreciates the efforts undertaken by the United Nations Secretary General and his Personal Envoy for the Sahara in accordance with the parameters defined in the relevant Security Council resolutions on the Sahara issue.”
Kazakhstan thus affirmed its support for the exclusively UN political process on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, conducted by the resolutions of the Security Council.
The latest UN Security Council resolution on the Moroccan Sahara, 2756, adopted on 31/10/2024, reaffirmed the seriousness and credibility of the Autonomy Initiative, confirmed the parameters of the political, realistic, pragmatic, lasting and compromise solution to the artificial dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, and promoted the roundtable setting as the sole framework for conducting the UN political process.
-MAP
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