Morocco summons Dutch ambassador over 'interference'

By Khalid Mejdoub

RABAT

Morocco summoned the Dutch ambassador Friday over ‘interference in internal issues’, according to a source in the country’s Foreign Ministry.

The move came after Netherlands Foreign Minister Stef Blok presented a report in the Dutch parliament Thursday on the protest movement known as the Rif Movement in which he criticized the poor prison conditions of detained demonstrators.

Morocco’s Foreign Ministry also told Dutch Ambassador Desiree Bonis that a meeting of the two countries’ foreign ministers scheduled for the end of September had been suspended.

The number of Moroccans currently living in the Netherlands is estimated at 400,000, most of whom hail from the northern Rif region.

Since late 2016, the region has seen sporadic protests demanding regional development and an end to perceived government corruption.

Late last year, Moroccan King Mohammed VI sacked four government ministers for failing to implement a viable development plan for the region.