Al-Jarida al-Oula newspaper reported that King Mohammed VI of Morocco discharged Benabdallah because of an “argument” and a “fight” that broke out between his wife, Kawtar Sounni, and Fatiha al-Tahiri, the wife of the more powerful Foreign Minister, Taib Fassi Fihri, during a fine arts festival recently held in Venice.
The dispute between the wives of the two senior officials broke out when Tahiri “tried to prevent” Sounni from sitting in a front seat reserved for VIP ladies, according the report, which quoted witnesses as saying the dispute developed into a bitter fight.
By the end of the dispute, the wife of the foreign minister warned Sounni that her husband would soon be sacked as ambassador, which is what reportedly happened.
A few days later when it became clear that Ambassador Benabdallah would be discharged, his wife tried contacting the royal palace’s office in order to save her husband from an imminent lay-off, but to no avail.
On Tuesday, the ambassador was summoned to the kingdom and he was seen at the foreign ministry building in Rabat, al-Jarida al-Oula reported, adding that Hassan Abou Ayoub, Morocco’s ambassador to France, was expected to replace him.
The foreign ministry has not issued any official statement about the issue and its press office declined to confirm or deny the news, widely circulated in the Moroccan press.
Al-Massa newspaper described the incident as a “disgrace” that tarnished the image of Moroccans, especially women, in international events.
(Written by Mustapha Ajbaili) |
