afrol News, 16 January - On Monday, afrol News published an article about the Western Sahara conflict that was based on propaganda material planted by the Moroccan government. The editor today apologises for having failed to stop the publication of this disinformation.

Editor's apology:
An article published here on Monday unfortunately was based on sources that proved to be propaganda material from the Moroccan government and gave a totally wrong picture of the Western Sahara conflict. It included the totally false rumour that the Sahrawi government is engaged in terrorist activities. These accusations have no root in reality whatsoever. The afrol News editor apologises for this erroneous reporting, which was due to the work of an inexperienced journalist using sources planted by the Moroccan government.

The correct picture of the conflict rather sees the Moroccan side acting in breech with several UN-brokered peace agreements and committing gross human rights violations in the occupied territories. The exiled Sahrawi government, a full AU member, since 1991 has respected the UN-monitored ceasefire, despite Morocco's disrespect of the ceasefire's conditions. The Sahrawis recently have discussed a possible return to war, but nevertheless have accepted yet another UN initiative to broker a solution for the occupied territory, despite their negative experiences regarding the implementation of all earlier agreements.

It should be noted that the Moroccan government during the last years has stepped up its propaganda war against the Sahrawis, spending large sums on lobbying particularly in the United States. Unfortunately, Moroccan pressure groups have managed to plant rumours in Washington, indirectly linking the Sahrawi government to al Qaeda despite the total absence of Islamist extremism among the Sahrawi population. Reporting on the Western Sahara conflict is a delicate issue that requires much knowledge of the region and its history and the Moroccan side's increased spread of false news makes such reporting ever more complicated, thus risking renewed armed conflict.

The editor again wants to apologise for having failed to stop the publication of false rumours and propaganda material.

By Rainer Chr. Hennig

© afrol News

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