Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- In a new twist in the tail vis-à-vis the ongoing tussle between Morocco and Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the UN, Omar Hilale, the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations in New York, said yesterday during a press conference that Ban Ki-moon’s use of the word “occupation,” to describe Morocco recovering its colonized lands from Spain in 1975, “wasn’t actually spontaneous,” stressing that the whole scenario, including the visit to Bir Lahlou, was meticulously planned in advance.
Omar Hilale stressed that Morocco is not in a political row with Ban solely because of this latter’s use of the word “occupation,” but rather because of other sets of events, which include his visit to Bir Lahlou, the Victory sign he waged to polisario supporters, and his mentioning of “holding a referendum,” all in a blatant disregard to the UN’s supposed avowed neutrality vis-à-vis the dossier.
Regarding the visit to Bir Lahlou, Hilale stressed that it was planned in advance as “there was an exchange of words, messages. We have the proof that everything was premeditated, that the whole scenario was planned and accepted even before the plane [Ban Ki-moon’s plane] took off.”
Omar Hilale stressed that Morocco is demanding sincere “regrets, excuses, not just for a single word [occupation], but rather for the whole set of unfortunate actions [of Ban Ki-moon].”
Omar Hilale went on further to point out that “the office of the United Nations spokesman is instrumentalized in media campaign against Morocco.”
The Moroccan Times.
