New York - The video posted on YouTube shows an unprecedented clash between Morocco’s Ambassador to the United Nations and the Venezuela Ambassador on Tuesday June 14.
New York – The video posted on YouTube shows an unprecedented clash between Morocco’s Ambassador to the United Nations and the Venezuela Ambassador on Tuesday June 14.
The clash occurred as the Venezuelan Ambassador, Rafael Dario Ramírez Carreño, who chairs the C-34 committee wanted to give the floor to Ahmed Boukhari, representative of the Polisario, to speak before the committee on behalf of the Saharawis.
The Moroccan Ambassador rejected the Venezolan Ambassador’s decision, since the participation of Boukhari in the meeting was not included in the agenda, and went against the UN rules of procedures.
Omar Hilale said that the representative of the Polisario Front could not be given the floor because, unlike in previous years, he had not requested to be heard by the Special Committee. “He cannot speak as the representative of Western Sahara,” he said, adding that the Special Committee’s rules must be observed.
The Venezuelan Ambassador said the committee had decided to hear from the Polisario Front representative, and he claimed that there were no grounds for denying that. He requested members states who are not members of the Special Committee to leave the room, and adjourned the meeting. But the Moroccan Ambassador refused to leave the room and denounced the chair’s attempt to impose his will on the committee as if he were in “Caracas.”
