Rabat- Amid a storm of controversy over his offensive remarks directed at Moroccan journalists, Ahmed Mansour, a journalist for the Qatar-based network Al Jazeera, has apologized to Moroccan media professionals and journalists.
After labeling some Moroccan journalists as “pimps, bastards, corrupt, and insects”, Ahmed Mansour said that he has “the courage to apologize” to all Moroccan journalists and to the Moroccan people.
“Amid the controversy over my previous comment which was misunderstood by Moroccan journalists and angered them, along with the Moroccan people (for whom I have all respect, love and appreciation), I have the courage to apologize to all of them,” Ahmed Mansour said in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Monday.
Mansour went on to admit that he made the offensive remark in a moment of anger, and overreacted to what Moroccan media outlets wrote about him.
Last week, Ahmed Mansour posted on his Facebook page a long statement attacking Moroccan politicians and journalists for what he regarded as a “fabricated story to tarnish his reputation.”
His remarks came as response to a story published by daily newspaper Asabah, about his alleged involvement in a customary marriage with a Moroccan woman affiliated with the Party of Justice and Development, the party that leads the Moroccan coalition government.
On Sunday, the National Union of the Moroccan Press, Le Syndicat National de la Presse Marocaine (SNPM), denounced in a statement “the offensive, defamatory and obscene” remarks used by Ahmed Mansour to describe Moroccan journalists.
Mansour said that he made a mistake when he decided to react to what some Moroccan news outlets published about his personal life.
He expressed the hope that the Moroccan journalist will accept his sincere apology. “I have the courage to apologize for any unintentional mistake or unintentional insult and hope that my apologies will also be accepted with courage,” he concluded.
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