Ban furious with Morocco

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Morocco’s foreign minister on Tuesday he was angered and disappointed by a demonstration in Rabat he said was a personal attack on him over remarks he made about the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Tens of thousands of Moroccans marched though the capital on Sunday to protest Ban’s position on Western Sahara and rally support for the king.

Ban "conveyed his astonishment at the recent statement of the government of Morocco and expressed his deep disappointment and anger regarding the demonstration that was mobilised on Sunday, which targeted him in person," Ban’s press office said in an unusually tough statement.

"He stressed that such attacks are disrespectful to him and to the United Nations," said the statement, which was issued after he met with Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar.

Rabat accused Ban last week of no longer being neutral in the Western Sahara conflict, saying he used the word "occupation" to describe Morocco’s presence in the region that has been at the center of a dispute since 1975.  The United Nations acknowledges he used the term.