International News

UNITED NATIONS, (APP): UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told
Moroccan foreign minister that he was angered and disappointed by a huge demonstration in Rabat over his remarks about the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
The secretary-general “conveyed his astonishment at the recent
statement of the government of Morocco and expressed his deep disappointment and anger regarding the demonstration that was mobilized on Sunday, which targeted him in person,” Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“He (secretary-general) stressed that such attacks are disrespectful
to him and to the United Nations,” said the statement, which was issued after he met with Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar on Monday.
The Moroccan government accused Ban last week of no longer being neutral
in the Western Sahara conflict, saying he used the word “occupation” to describe Morocco’s presence in the region that has been at the centre of a dispute since 1975.
Dujarric said the secretary-general “took note of the misunderstanding
related to his use of the word ‘occupation’ as his personal reaction to the deplorable humanitarian conditions in which the Sahrawi refugees have lived in for far too long.”
While in the region two weeks ago, Ban called for efforts to alleviate
the plight of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria who are dealing with an “unacceptable situation,” saying the parties to the Western Sahara conflict had not made any real progress in the negotiations towards a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution.
Spain’s colonial administration of Western Sahara ended in 1976 and
fighting subsequently broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front. A ceasefire was reached in September 1991, and a UN mission “known as MINURSO”has been tasked with monitoring this ceasefire and organizing a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara, which the Security Council has been requesting since 2004.
Meanwhile, Morocco has presented a plan for autonomy, while the
Polisario Front’s position is that the Territory’s final status should be decided in a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option.
Monday’s statement said by choosing to misrepresent the purpose and
progression of the Secretary-General’s trip to the region, the demonstrators, and their sponsors, deliberately chose to ignore that at every stop on his trip he underlined his personal commitment to encouraging genuine negotiations between the parties to achieve “a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, as the UN Security Council has repeatedly requested.
The Secretary-General underscored to the Foreign Minister that he has
adhered closely to the Security Council’s mandate, said the statement, adding that the UN chief reiterated his 4 November 2015 call for genuine and serious negotiations without preconditions to make progress soonest.