Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi reiterated, Friday, his country's position that does not recognize the Sahara as a state, expressing regret over Morocco's absence from the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita, announced Wednesday in Dakhla, the imminent holding of a ministerial meeting of countries that have opened consulates in the southern provinces of the Kingdom.

The Republic of Cabo Verde opened, Wednesday, a consulate general in Dakhla, marking its firm support for the sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara and its territorial integrity.

The Comoros Islands regretted the absence of Morocco, “a pillar of Africa”, from the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8), which opened on Saturday in Tunis.

Senegalese President Macky Sall regretted that the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), opened Saturday in Tunis, is marked by the absence of Morocco, a "prominent member of the African Union."