Morocco Slams U.N.'s Ban for W. Sahara Comments
Morocco Tuesday accused United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon of speaking out of turn during a visit to restart talks between Rabat and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front on disputed Western Sahara.
The Moroccan government noted "with great surprise the verbal outpourings... and unjustified gestures of deference" by Ban during his visit, according to a statement released by the official MAP news agency.
It was unclear exactly to what comments Rabat was referring.
During a weekend stop in the Algerian capital Ban criticized Morocco and the Polisario Front for failing to make "real progress" towards an "acceptable" solution to end the 40-year conflict in the disputed desert territory.
Ban added that the U.N. mission to the region was "prepared to hold a referendum if there is agreement between the parties", an initiative supported by Algeria, the Polisario Front's main backer.
"Far from achieving the stated goal of his visit to relaunch political dialogue, the secretary general's comments could jeopardize the process," the statement by the Moroccan government added.
The U.N. has been trying to oversee an independence referendum for Western Sahara since 1992 after a ceasefire was reached to end a war that broke out when Morocco sent its forces to the former Spanish territory in 1975.
Morocco has ruled out the idea of independence and argues for a broad autonomy for the territory under its sovereignty.
The U.N. envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, resumed diplomatic efforts in February 2015.
So perhaps you can tell us all how is it that the whole world doesn't turn on Morocco for denying the "inaliable rights of the Sahrawi people", just like they do on Israel for the "rights of the Palestinian people". Something very strange in this.