Morocco contributed $ 120 mln to MINURSO since its deployment in Morocco, Basri says

Morocco has paid $ 120 million in financial contribution to the U.N Mission for the Referendum in the Sahara (MINURSO) since its deployment in Morocco 10 years ago, Moroccan Interior Minister, Driss Basri, said on Thursday.

Basri, who was meeting with representatives of national and foreign press accredited in Rabat, underlined Morocco's readiness to continue its financial support to the MINURSO.

The MINURSO, which supervises a cease-fire in force since September 1991, comprises 203 military observers, 10 staff officers, 248 troopers and 80 civilian police observers.

Touching on Morocco's moral aid to MINURSO, Driss Basri said the Kingdom has never failed to observe the rules of hospitality since the deployment of the MINURSO in Morocco 10 years ago. "No member of the MINURSO was ever arrested, interrogated nor bothered while doing his job, although the authorities are aware of certain acts," Basri said.

He denounced, in this respect, the behavior of some members of the MINURSO, who mistreat people in identification bureaux, sow all kinds of obstacles to applicants and try to reduce the number of Sahrawis presenting themselves in Morocco. Reaction would have been different in other places, but Morocco remains faithful to its tradition of restraint, hospitality and respect of the other, Basri insisted.

"In Morocco, we have the customs of a centuries-old human civilization, but, when time comes, the Moroccan authorities will say all the truth," Basri said.