DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal and Morocco re-established normal diplomatic ties on Friday after they withdrew their ambassadors in a dispute over Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.
Rabat recalled its ambassador to Senegal in December to protest comments made by ex-minister Jacques Baudin, a member of the opposition Senegalese Socialist Party, who called for the northwest African territory to be made a free state.
He also praised the Polisario Front, which has fought for Western Sahara's independence since Morocco annexed it in 1975.
Senegal branded Morocco's move "unfriendly" and recalled its own envoy to Rabat.
After a meeting between Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio and his Moroccan counterpart Tab Fassi Fihri, an agreement was reached on Friday for the immediate return of ambassadors, Senegal's state news agency APS reported.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade's Senegalese Democratic Party, which ended 40 years of Socialist Party rule in a 2000 election, has supported Morocco's offer of autonomy for Western Sahara.
Some strains have emerged in the relationship between Dakar and Rabat, however.
In October, Senegal took back control of national airline Air Senegal from Moroccan carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM), which had controlled it since 2000, after what it said were heavy financial losses.
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