Several southern African leaders on Tuesday threw their support behind Western Sahara, with one calling the disputed territory the "last colony" on the African continent. President Cyril Ramaphosa, leader of the continental powerhouse South Africa, described the gathering in the South African capital Pretoria as a "historic act of solidarity".
The two-day meeting, which started on Monday, was called by the 16-nation Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and attended by leaders from nine African countries and ministers from as far away as Venezuela and Nicaragua. Separately, Morocco hosted ministers from 36 African countries for UN-backed talks on ending the four-decades-old conflict in Western Sahara, a swathe of desert on Africa's Atlantic coast.
Delegates at the meeting in Marrakesh backed a declaration affirming "the exclusivity of the United Nations as the framework for seeking a mutually acceptable, realistic, pragmatic and lasting political solution to the (Western) Sahara issue."
In Pretoria, Ramaphosa said: "Gathered here today are men and women of conscience. Your presence here... sends the clearest message that we are with the people of Western Sahara. "We stand by you, we support you and we will never forget you."
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