Peru breaks ties with Western Sahara 'republic'

Peru said Thursday it was breaking diplomatic ties with the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Western Sahara in favor of improved ties with Morocco.

The break came just 11 months after diplomatic relations were reestablished under leftist President Pedro Castillo.

The decision followed a "recent telephone conversation" between Peru's foreign minister, Miguel Rodriguez Mackay, and Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two nations decided to "strengthen their bilateral relations," it added.

Morocco controls some 80 percent of the Western Sahara and has long insisted it must retain sovereignty there, pitting it against the Polisario movement demanding a referendum on independence for the region.

"In the absence of an effective bilateral relationship to date, the Government of the Republic of Peru decides to withdraw the recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and to break all relations with this entity," the ministry statement announced.

Instead, Lima and Rabat will sign "a multisectoral roadmap covering regular political consultations, effective cooperation in economic, commercial, educational, energy, agriculture and fertilizer matters," it said.

The statement also underscored that Peru "values and respects the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco and its national sovereignty."

Peru and the SADR reestablished official ties in September last year in one of Castillo's first diplomatic acts.

They had previously been suspended since 1996 under Moroccan pressure.

The Western Sahara conflict, which had been largely frozen since a 1991 ceasefire, flared again in late 2020 after the Polisario declared the truce null and void.

The same year, the administration of then-US president Donald Trump recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the territory in a deal that saw the kingdom mend ties with Israel.

The African Union recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Republic as a member.