Morocco seeks to rejoin African Union after Western Sahara row

Thousands of Sahrawis have spent years in refugee camps

Morocco has sent a special envoy to lobby African leaders to rejoin the African Union 32 years after it left in a row over Western Sahara.

Taib Fassi Fihri met Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi and said Morocco wants to re-join the AU without any preconditions. Morocco claims Western Sahara as part of its territory, much of which it has occupied since 1975.

But the AU recognises Western Sahara as an independent state.

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Morocco is the only African country not to be an AU member. The AU, however, says it will continue pushing for the rights of Western Sahara to hold a referendum on its self-determination.

Brahim Ghali, the new leader of the North African territory is expected to attend the African Union summit in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, according to the AU's deputy chairperson Erastus Mwencha.

Mr Ghali was elected the Western Sahara president and secretary-general of the independence movement Polisario Front on 9 July. He replaced long-time leader Mohamed Abdelaziz who died in May.