UN General refutes Moroccan propaganda
www.vest-sahara.no (Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara)
Oslo, 25. April, 2008
A Moroccan website is attempting to discredit the Danish General, Kurt
Mosgaard, who was the commanding officer for MINURSO in Western Sahara for
two years.
By Ingrid Pedersen
The Moroccan propaganda website www.polisario-confidential.org has
attempted, in two recent articles, to discredit the Danish General, Kurt
Mosgaard, and accuses him of supporting Polisario. One of the photographs
in
the articles show, claims the author, the General wearing a traditional
Sahrawi article of clothing over his uniform, affixed to which is a SADR
pin
or emblem. He is pictured together with the Defence Minister for Western
Sahara, Mohammed Lamine Bouhali.
Another article shows a photograph of General Mosgaard together with
leaders
of Polisario in a refugee camp close to Tindouf.
"I have certainly never borne a Polisario emblem on my clothing", Kurt
Mosgaard replied relaxedly to the articles.
The object depicted on the photograph can not be clearly seen, and it is
hard to verify whether it is there at all.
"I do not know if the photograph has been manipulated or if the emblem has
been placed there by someone", he further stated.
He received two or three pieces of traditional Sahrawi clothing as gifts,
the latest being given on his farewell tour of the area. The clothing,
however, has no connection with Polisario.
"Many Sahrawis wear traditional clothing, also those who are members of
CORCAS in the Moroccan controlled part of Western Sahara. I was always
treated respectfully during my meetings with the conflicting parties, so
it
was natural for me to be correspondingly respectful and accommodating,
just
like back home in Jylland", he mentioned with a gleam in his eye.
CORCAS is a controversial pro-Moroccan Council comprised of Sahrawis, but
constituted by the King of Morocco.
Mosgaard also stated that it was a normal part of his duties to meet with
military leaders of Polisario.
"It was my duty to meet with them, to solve problems and strengthen mutual
trust whilst at the same time increase understanding of the UN's work in
Western Sahara. I strived to always meet the military leaders of the two
parties involved the same number of times; they were all accommodating and
friendly people", he said.
Norwegian interview causes indignation
It would appear that Kurt Mosgaard's statements, published in a magazine
interview issued by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), have irritated
the
Moroccans. The author of the website articles makes direct reference to
the
NRC interview, and falsely accuses the Norwegian Refugee Council of being
a
'pro-Polisario' organization.
This may be an attempt, by the Moroccans, to cast doubt on Kurt Mosgaard's
impartiality and thereby possibly influencing him to avoid any further
interviews.
The website also states that Kurt Mosgaard removed the Moroccan flag from
MINURSO headquarters in El Aai?n, thereby causing civil unrest in the
town.
In reality, however, no unrest was reported anywhere in the town.
Kurt Mosgaard confirmed that he did have the flag removed from the UN
headquarters, but his reason for doing so was to accentuate the
impartiality
of the UN.
The decision to remove the flag was correct and completely in accordance
with UN regulations. A decision that, in reality, is advantageous to all
the
concerned parties in need of an impartial UN mediator.
Buildings and other installations belonging to the UN shall always be seen
as impartial objects. That the Moroccan flag was flown over the UN
headquarters for 16 years was in direct contravention of the UN's own
regulations.
Moroccan number plates on UN vehicles
UN vehicles west of the sand-wall continually use Moroccan number plates
instead of the white UN number plates that UN vehicles use in all other
parts of the world.
The use of Moroccan plates gives the local population the impression that
the UN is not impartial, and that they are in fact aligned with the
Moroccans in the dispute.
The UN and MINURSO have not, as yet, resolved this problem.
www.polisario-confidential.org has not reported on this topic on their
website.
There is presently a good deal of activity within the UN regarding the
situation in Western Sahara. MINURSO's mandate is shortly due for renewal;
and the Moroccan accusations aimed at the Danish General may possibly be
connected with the Security Council decision to discuss the situation
towards the end of April.
www.polisario-confidential.org is an anonymous website, registered via a
proxy-server in Arizona, USA. A group of bloggers have tried to find out
who
is actually behind the page. See their discussions here:
http://onehumportwo.blogspot.com/2008/01/polisario-confidential-tries-to-tie.html
One of the theories, is that it is put up by an American PR bureau, paid
by
Morocco:
http://onehumportwo.blogspot.com/2008/01/more-information-on-moroccan-puppet.html
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Source:
http://www.vest-sahara.no/index.php?parse_news=single&cat=49&art=888
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Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara
*** Referendum now! ***
www.vest-sahara.no
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update
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