UNITED NATIONS (UNITED STATES) (AFP) -
The
UN Security Council should keep its military liaison office open in
Dakhla, Western Sahara, to avoid setting a dangerous precedent, a UN
official said.
The world body said Tuesday it had closed the office at Morocco's request and withdrew three military observers posted there.
It
was the latest twist in a running dispute between the world body and
Morocco, which was angered when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
recently referred to the "occupation" of the disputed territory.
The
UN mission, which has about 500 civilian and military personnel, was
established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and prepare for elections in
Western Sahara.
But Morocco, which annexed Western Sahara in 1975,
has resisted an election and instead proposes self-government under
Moroccan sovereignty.
Ban "very much wants the Security Council to
act, and not only to preserve MINUSRO's operations but to prevent
similar actions in other peacekeeping operations around the world," the
official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
He did not
specify which other operation he was referring to, but the United
Nations has had difficulties with its staff in places including Sudan,
South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The United
Nations has been trying to broker a Western Sahara settlement since a
1991 ceasefire ending a war that broke out when Morocco deployed its
military in the former Spanish territory in 1975.
Morocco, which
considers the territory to be part of its kingdom and insists that its
sovereignty cannot be challenged, has also decided to cut $3 million in
funding for the UN mission.
The UN official called Morocco's moves an "extreme overreaction."
"We
see Morocco's unilateral actions as an unprecedented violation of the
UN charter... and a direct challenge to the Security Council," he said.
As
per Ban's use of the term "occupation" to describe the territory's
status, "it certainly was not deliberate," the official said.
"Nothing
the secretary general said or did during his visit was meant to take
sides, to express hostility to Morocco or signal any change in the UN
approach to the Western Sahara conflict."
© 2016 AFP
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