Video: Polisario 'representative' infiltrates TICAD meeting in Japan as Algerian delegate

In a bid to involve Japan in its regular publicity stunts, a member of the separatist Polisario Front allegedly infiltrated a preparatory meeting in Tokyo for the upcoming eighth edition of the Africa-Japan TICAD summit, sources familiar with the situation said.

The individual, using an Algerian diplomatic passport, gained access to the meeting through the Algerian delegation, even though TICAD summits are known to invite only United Nations member states.

Sources at the meeting reported that the infiltrator posed as a member of the Algerian delegation. Once inside, he pulled out a banner representing the Polisario Front’s claimed “Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic” and set it at the meeting table, which prompted an immediate reaction from the Moroccan delegation.

Moroccan representatives objected to the “DIY-ed” banner, leading to an intervention by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The ministry clarified that it had not extended any invitations to the Polisario Front and that TICAD invites only UN-recognized states.

Following the incident, Algerian media and separatist leaders have portrayed the situation as a diplomatic victory. This portrayal is seen as an attempt to undermine the recent decision by the African Union to bar non-UN member states from participating in international meetings involving the AU and its global partners, such as Japan, Russia, and South Korea.

The event echoes a previous incident in 2021, when Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali entered Spain with forged documents, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid. The crisis concluded with Spain affirming its support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara.

The recent Tokyo incident also underscores the ongoing efforts by opponents of Morocco’s territorial claims to use “photo diplomacy” to present a misleading image of the Polisario Front’s international standing and distract from their diplomatic and military setbacks.