Moroccan man claims Mauritania army killed Sahraoui women in 1978

A Moroccan man has gone public with claims that the Mauritanian army opened fire on Sahrawi women celebrating International Women's Day in the city of Zouérat in 1978, killing many of them, including his own mother. The city was a disputed territory at the time, with both Morocco and Mauritania laying claim to it, but has sense reverted to Mauritanian control The Mauritanian army committed a crime and gave enormous amounts of money to chiefs and elders to cover up the scandal, the man, Moussaoui Mouss, told the widely-read Moroccan newspaper al-Massae. Mouss said he had been making regular trips to Mauritania since 1978 to visit his mother's grave, but decided to go public about the incident when the Mauritanian embassy denied him an entry visa and officials mistreated him. He said embassy officials told him they found his articles accusing the Mauritanian army of killing his mother and other Sahrawi women "disturbing." "They made the embassy guard throw my passport in my face and told me to go away because senior Mauritanian authorities won't let me into Mauritania." The man called on King Mohammed XI of Morocco to intervene on his behalf to bring Mauritanian authorities to allow him an entry visa to visit his mother's grave. Al-Massae alleges that Mouss provided evidence and documentation in which he linked political treaties and large gifts of money which Mauritania awarded politicians in Mauritania, the Polisario Front and some Sahrawi elders in south Morocco. He said the payments were made to ensure cooperation in spreading a fabricated explanation of the incident that shifts the blame from "the true criminals."