New York - Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki- moon said "he counts on the professionalism, integrity and commitment of the Moroccan troops to reach stability in Central Africa."
"I wish to reiterate my concern regarding attacks against civilians and I count on the professionalism, integrity and commitment of the Moroccan troops to achieve the stabilization of the country which is necessary to put the Central African Republic on the way toward a sustainable development," UN chief told MAP.
Morocco "is actually one of the first countries which have deployed troops this week in the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), Ban recalled in this interview on sidelines of the 69th UN General Assembly.
The Kingdom was "the first country to provide a guard unit for the UN in Bangui even before the formation of UN peacekeeping mission", he added, stressing that MINURCAT will make, as its top priority, the protection of civilians and the political process.
Morocco is the 15th largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, UNSG noted, expressing his "gratitude to HM’s government for its commitment" to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote d’Ivoire.
About 1,600 Moroccan troops are currently deployed in two UN peacekeeping missions in Congo (MONUSCO) and Côte d' Ivoire (UNOCI).