Polisario condemns expulsion of Pan-African Parliament deputy speaker from Marrakech

Saharawi delegation in Spain has voiced the strongest protest and condemned the provocative action against Saharawi MP and deputy speaker of the Pan-African Parliament, Souielma Beirouk, who has been expelled upon her arrival in the airport of Marrakech, by the Moroccan authorities, the Polisario Front mission in Madrid said Tuesday in a statement. 

Saharawi MP Souielma Beirouk, in her capacity as deputy speaker of the Pan-African Parliament was held up by Moroccan authorities at the airport of Marrakech, when she was about to join the African Union delegation participating at the COP22, to prevent her from taking part in the summit under the aegis of the United Nations, Polisario Front representatives in Madrid underlined.

"Morocco, through such an action, has violated the principle of inviolability of diplomatic personnel, which is enshrined by the customary international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961)."

"This action is another example of the arrogance of Morocco, which contradicts itself, as it conducts campaign to adhere to the African Union, while it expels the representatives of this institution," the Polisario Front stressed.

 Souielma Beirouk was elected in May 2013 as deputy speaker of the Pan-African Parliament for Africa's northeast.