REUTERS/Wu Hong/Pool/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsRABAT, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Morocco has not made a formal request to join the BRICS grouping and will not attend its summit in South Africa, state news agency MAP said on Saturday.
Citing an unnamed diplomatic source, MAP denied a statement by South Africa's foreign minister Anil Sooklal who said earlier this month Morocco was among the nations seeking to join the bloc.
"South Africa allowed itself to speak about Morocco's ties with the BRICS without prior consultation," it said.
Morocco would not attend the BRICS meeting in South Africa, MAP said, adding: "South Africa has in fact always shown a primary hostility towards Morocco and has systematically taken negative and dogmatic positions on the Moroccan Sahara issue."
Morocco is attached to a non-divisive multilateralism and has good ties with the rest of BRICS member states, it said.
Persons:
Wu Hong, Anil Sooklal, Ahmed Eljechtimi, Tomasz Janowski
Organizations:
Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center, REUTERS, South, Polisario, Thomson
Locations:
Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, India, Xiamen, Fujian Province, Morocco, Africa, Algeria, Western Sahara, Moroccan