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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More countries are putting their weight behind Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara as France becomes the latest to do so.
In a statement released Tuesday by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs following a meeting between the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, and Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita, France reaffirmed its “unwavering” position on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara.
The statement reiterates the position expressed by President Emmanuel Macron to King Mohammed VI in his letter dated July 30, 2024, emphasizing that “for France, the present and future of Western Sahara lie within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” while recalling the “unwavering nature of France’s position” and its commitment to “act consistently with this position at both the national and international levels.”
Furthermore, the French Minister reiterated France’s “clear and consistent support for the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty,” describing it as “the only framework within which this issue should be resolved” and stressing that it is “the sole basis” for reaching a political solution, according to the statement.
Noting the “growing international consensus” in support of Morocco’s autonomy initiative, Jean-Noël Barrot stated that France intends to fully contribute to this momentum.
Additionally, France reaffirmed its commitment “to support Morocco’s significant efforts in promoting economic and social development” in the southern provinces of the Kingdom, highlighting the various measures taken in this regard and expressing its willingness to continue this dynamic, according to the same source.
The United States has again reaffirmed Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara. This came up in a communication by US President Donald Trump to the Moroccan monarch, King Mohammed VI.
At a meeting on Tuesday in Washington between Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the latter reiterated that “the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over [the] Sahara.”
Earlier, during a phone conversation in December 2020 between His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the President of the United States, Donald Trump, the U.S. President informed the Sovereign of the issuance of a presidential proclamation, an act with undeniable legal and political weight and immediate effect, announcing the decision of the United States to recognize the full sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over the entire Moroccan Sahara region.
The head of American diplomacy also reiterated that the U.S. “supports Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic Autonomy Proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute,” Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Tammy Bruce, said.
Marco Rubio also reiterated that the U.S. “continues to believe that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution.”
In this respect, he stated that the U.S. President is “urging for the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal as the only framework, to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution.”
The Secretary of State noted that “the United States would facilitate progress toward this aim,” the Spokesperson concluded.
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In about two years from now, the United States will mark the 250th anniversary of the country getting its first international recognition.
On December 1, 2027, it will be 250 years since the Kingdom of Morocco recognised the US, becoming the first country to recognize the United States of America.
To mark the occasion, a resolution has been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives that officially marks the upcoming date of December 1, 2027 date.
The 250th anniversary is considered “a milestone in one of the longest-standing diplomatic relationships in United States history.”.
According to reports from Maghreb Insider, the bill was proposed by Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10) and Joe Wilson, the Representative from South Carolina and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The resolution reaffirms a great many long-standing bilateral relations including everything from how “Moroccan-American communities contribute to the cultural diversity of the United States and maintain deep connections to their heritage; to how Morocco remains the only African country with a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, to the United States and Morocco cooperate closely on regional security, counterterrorism efforts, and military coordination, including participation in joint military exercises such as African Lion.”
The bill sums up by saying that the U.S. supports all efforts to commemorate the 250th anniversary and the lead-up to 2027, highlighting the “historical and strategic importance of the United States-Morocco alliance.”
This resolution is in the first stage of the legislative process. It will typically be considered by the committee next before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole.
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