Reuters
by Aziz El Yaakoubi
Morocco has asked the United Nations to remove 84 staff members in the coming days from its Western Sahara mission after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon made what it called unacceptable remarks about the territory in a visit to North Africa, a Moroccan official source said on Thursday.
The source said the military and peacekeeping part of the mission would not be affected. A visit by Ban to Morocco is not on the agenda, the source said.
Ban said he wanted Morocco and the Polisario Front, which waged a guerrilla war over the Western Sahara after Morocco took control over most of the region in 1975, to restart negotiations. A ceasefire ended fighting in 1991, but the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement since then. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
