The diplomatic event in the Australian capital devolved into an ugly altercation when Moroccan officials abused a representative from the disputed North African territory and attempted to block him from entering the venue.
Sahrawi representative Kamel Fadel, who had been formally invited to the Albert Hall event by the South African delegation, was initially stopped from entering the venue by Moroccan diplomats.
Other African ambassadors and Australian police were later forced to intervene, according to a video seen by The Guardian.
The video shows three Moroccan officials barring the entrance to Albert Hall to prevent Fadel from entering. Fadel subsequently tried to push his way in, before getting into a shouting match with the Moroccan officials.
He finally entered the venue thirty minutes later, escorted by African diplomats.
“This is a total embarrassment for the African missions here and I, as a police officer, shouldn’t have to be dealing with this,” African police agent Chris Hedley said in the video.
“You have embarrassed yourself and any goodwill you had with the people here is gone,” Hedley added later.
Source: News Arab
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