Johannesburg - South Africa and Morocco
will resume diplomatic ties more than a decade after Morocco
withdrew its ambassador from Pretoria, South African President
Jacob Zuma said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.
Morocco recalled its ambassador from South Africa in 2004
after former South African president Thabo Mbeki recognised a
breakaway region in the Western Sahara which Morocco claims as
part of its territory.
"Morocco is an African nation and we need to have relations
with them," Zuma told City Press in the interview.
"We never had
problems with them anyway; they were the first to withdraw
diplomatic relations."
Zuma met Morocco's King Mohammed last week on the sidelines
of an African Union-European Union summit.
"They felt that even if we differ on the Western Sahara
issues, the two countries should have a relationship," Zuma said
about Moroccan officials' position at the meeting.
South Africa's official government position - as re-affirmed
by Zuma in one of his state of the nation addresses - is to
support "self determination and decolonisation for the Western
Sahara".
The decision to re-establish ties with Morocco is likely to
go down badly in South Africa's ruling African National Congress
(ANC) party, of which Zuma is leader.
The ANC - as one of Africa's oldest liberation movements -
has long backed those seeking independence in the Western Sahara
and has accused Morocco of occupying the region.
A spokesman for South Africa's foreign ministry could not be
reached for comment on Sunday.
Morocco has controlled most of the Western Sahara, which is
rich in phosphates and has seen some initial oil exploration
efforts, since 1975. A ceasefire in 1991 called for a referendum
on self-determination for Western Sahara, but the vote has never
taken place.