As many as eight Arab countries have announced their withdrawal from the fourth Arab-African Summit being held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, because of the insistence of the African Union on the participation of the Polisario separatist delegation.

The countries that pulled out are Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, and Somalia. Morocco was the first to withdraw and was followed by other Arab countries.

In a related development, it was revealed that a high-level African diplomat source has postponed the session to a later date that is not yet specified. He added that African countries will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the dispute and, in turn, heads of delegations of Arab countries will meet to find a solution to the conflict between the two sides.

The Polisario Front and its supporters gained membership of the Organization of African Unity in 1983, which led to Morocco’s withdrawal from the organization officially in 1984. Morocco requested to rejoin the African Union in September after 32 years.