Morocco asks to rejoin AU after 32 years

ADDIS ABABA: Morocco on Friday made an official request to return to the African Union, 32 years after quitting the bloc in protest at its decision to accept Western Sahara as a member.

"The Kingdom of Morocco has officially submitted a request to accede to the African Union (AU) Constitutive Act, and therefore, become a Member of the Union," the AU said in a statement.

Rabat first announced its intention to return to the club in July, with King Mohammed VI saying his country wanted to "take up its natural place within its institutional family."

Morocco quit the AU in protest in 1984 when the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) -- commonly known as Western Sahara -- was admitted as a member. Morocco has occupied the sparsely populated Western Sahara area since 1975 in a move that was not recognised by the international community.