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UN and Morocco at loggerheads over Western Sahara UN mission

Morocco

The UN Security council has called on the Moroccan government to allow UN forces in the Western Sahara to do their job without any intervention.

Morocco had earlier expelled some 73 civilian expatriates of the UN mission in the contested zone and closed a military liaison office in Dakhla.

The UN mission had been mandated in 1991 to supervise the ceasefire and prepare for a referendum by the Polisario Front which is campaigning for the independence of the Western Sahara.

“The decisions that are taken today are taken on behalf of 35 million Moroccans, and if someone believes that he can play with it and get out of the process and to influence the Security Council of the United Nations or the rest of the world, he is mistaken,” Morocco’s minister of foreign affairs said.

#Morocco says decision on UN #WesternSahara mission 'irreversible'; #UN Security Council 'concerned' w/ Elyaakoubi https://t.co/BadTbe7czw

— louis charbonneau (lou_reuters) March 25, 2016

Ban Ki-Moon had referred to Morocco’s governance in Western Sahara as occupation- a statement which angered officials in Rabat.

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