Moroccan government has accused on Wednesday the African Union commission’s chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa, of blocking Rabat’s efforts to rejoin the AU and lacking neutrality.

The foreign ministry, in a strongly worded statement, charged that she was “trying to thwart Morocco’s decision to regain its natural and legitimate place within its pan-African institutional family”.

Dlamini-Zuma had “delayed, in an unjustified manner, the circulation of Morocco’s demand to other members” in September, it said in a statement.

She was “keeping up her obstruction by improvising a new procedural demand, previously unheard of and unfounded… to arbitrarily reject the letters of support from AU member states”, it said, without giving details.

The ministry accused Dlamini-Zuma of acting “contrary to her obligation of neutrality, of AU rules and norms, and of the will of its member states”.

Rabat officially requested to rejoin the AU in September 32 years after quitting the bloc in protest at its decision to accept the Algeria backed separatist movement Polisario as a member.