Morocco Denies Request to Join BRICS

The "Maghreb Arab" news agency reported today, Saturday, that "Morocco has not submitted an official request to join the BRICS group of countries, and will not attend the group's summit in South Africa." The agency stated, "South Africa has once again claimed the right to speak about Morocco and its relationship with BRICS countries without prior consultation." It added, "South Africa has displayed complete aggression towards the Kingdom and has systematically adopted negative and dogmatic positions regarding the issue of Moroccan Sahara." The agency further noted that "Morocco definitely maintains significant and promising bilateral relations with the other four members of the group, and has partnership agreements with three of them."