UN shuts Western Sahara military liaison office in Morocco

Rabat, (IINA) - A spokesman of the United Nations stated on Tuesday that the organization has closed its military liaison office in the territory of Western Sahara as demanded by Morocco amid an escalating dispute over remarks by the UN chief, Reuters reported.
Dozens of UN international staffers pulled out of the Western Sahara mission, known as MINURSO, after Morocco demanded they leave because Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that Morocco is ‘occupying’ Western Sahara during a recent visit.
"This was completed yesterday", said UN spokesman Farhan Haq. "The three military observers based there were relocated to the Asward team site, on the western part of the territory, controlled by Morocco. Morocco's request to close the liaison office in Dakhla is the first request directly targeting the military component".
He said the liaison office was the UN's "face-to-face counterpart to the Royal Moroccan Army" and handled all discussions on the ceasefire.
The controversy over Ban's comments is Morocco's worst dispute with the UN since 1991, when the UN brokered a ceasefire to end a war over the Western Sahara and established the mission.
Rabat accused Ban earlier this month of no longer being neutral in the Western Sahara dispute when he used the word "occupation" to describe its 1975 annexation of the region, when Morocco took over from colonial power Spain.
AG/IINA

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