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Moroccan UN Envoy Clashes with Algerian Journalist Over Western Sahara Dispute
Friday 28 October 2022, by
Omar Hilale, the Moroccan ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, sharply rebuked an Algerian journalist during a press conference after the adoption of the Security Council resolution extending the MINURSO mandate for one year.
"Why in all your speeches and interventions do you accuse Algeria? Even today, you cited Algeria more than the Polisario," an Algerian journalist working for the Emirati TV channel Sky News Arabia asked the Moroccan diplomat. Omar Hilale’s response did not wait. "Sky News Arabia now speaks on behalf of Algeria and defends it. [...] Why did I talk about Algeria? Because Algeria is the only country that created the Polisario, armed it and supported it diplomatically [...]," the Moroccan ambassador replied. And he concluded: "thank you habibi".
On Thursday, the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Organization of a Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until October 31, 2023. The Sahara issue remains a point of friction between Morocco and Algeria, the protector of the Polisario, which no longer has diplomatic relations with the kingdom.