Moroccan Phosphate: Polisario’s action dismissed by Panama Justice

The Panamanian Justice rejected a request by the Polisario for the seizure in the Panama Canal of a cargo of Moroccan phosphates onboard Ultra Innovation ship. The cargo, loaded in the port of Laayoune, was to be delivered in Vancouver, Canada.

After it was forcibly anchored for a few days, the boat had been allowed to continue its journey by the Panama maritime court, which rejected on Wednesday (June 7), the action brought by the Polisario against the owner of the ship named Ultra Innovation.

In its judgment, the Panamanian court declares that a “national court is not competent to rule on an international political affair” inflicting a scathing blow to the Polisario and its Algerian sponsors who persist in their hostility against Morocco, in spite of the bitter failures they have been suffering on the international political and diplomatic scene.

The court ruled that “there is no evidence showing that the cargo belongs to the plaintiffs”, namely the Polisario, said Morocco’s national phosphate company (OCP) in a statement. The Polisario wrongly claims to be the legitimate representative of the populations of the Moroccan southern provinces and as such to have the right to monitor the exploitation of the natural resources of the territory.

All similar attempts by the Polisario to force the seizure of goods from the Moroccan southern provinces have failed, except for the case of a freighter blocked in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. But this is not surprising, since South Africa is a staunch supporter of the independence theses of the Polisario. The South African court in charge of the case was due to pronounce its verdict on Thursday, but it postponed its decision to June 15.

The OCP said in its statement in connection with the pending case in South Africa, “we remain confident that the legal arguments and the facts are favorable to us”.