Moroccan King Mohammed VI offered a conditional olive branch to African leaders Sunday in a speech in Senegal declaring his country wanted to "take back its natural position in Africa". Morocco is seeking to rejoin the African Union, 32 years after quitting the bloc in protest at its decision to accept Western Sahara as a member. In a gesture of African solidarity, Mohammed VI delivered an annual speech usually given at home in Dakar to "show the great interest we take in our continent", while still firmly maintaining the "unshakeable Moroccan identity of the Western Sahara". Mohammed VI emphasized his nation would "ask no one's permission to take our legitimate rights," as "nothing" would change regarding its position on the Western Sahara. The king arrived late Sunday from Gabon on a three-day trip to Senegal following an east African charm offensive in Rwanda and Tanzania. He declared that Morocco has "a staggering level of support to take up a seat in the heart of the institutional family of Africans," referring to the AU. Meanwhile, Morocco's foreign minister said on the eve of UN talks in Marrakesh that there was "no turning back" from a global accord to combat climate change. The number of countries that have ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement to slow global warming by shifting from fossil fuels has risen to 100 nations in recent days, including OPEC's top oil producer Saudi Arabia, the United Nations said. The US election is casting a shadow over the meeting of officials from almost 200 nations in Marrakesh from Nov. 7-18 to work on ways to implement pledges made in Paris to adopt cleaner energies such as wind and solar power. Republican nominee Donald Trump wants to ditch the Paris Agreement, doubting mainstream scientific findings that droughts, floods and rising sea levels are linked to human activities. By contrast, his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is a supporter. "There is no possible turning back in the negotiation on what was agreed in Paris," Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, who will preside at the talks, told a news conference. "We can only advance," he said, without naming Trump. He said the agreement had strong momentum after formally entering into force on Friday with backing from major emitters led by China, the United States and India. Asked about Trump's threats, UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa noted that any state wanting to pull out would have to follow formal legal procedures, due to last four years. "The agreement has entered into force and we are all obliged to deliver on those commitments," she said. Still, the agreement lets all nations to define their own commitments for fighting climate change and has no sanctions for non-compliance. With the UN accord legally in place, Trump may find it easier if he wins to oppose US President Barack Obama's plans to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent cut by 2025 from 2005 levels. Trump says the agreement would undermine US jobs, such as in the coal industry. The Morocco meeting is due to start writing a detailed "rule book" for the Paris Agreement, likely to take two years, and find ways to act such as raising finance to help developing nations cut their rising emissions. The Paris Agreement entered into force on Friday after it passed a twin threshold last month of support from 55 nations representing 55 percent of global emissions. — Agencies
