I only mentioned it in a link, but former ambassador to Morocco Frederick Vreeland's article in The New York Times (free registration required) caused quite a stir. Read it yourself, but the gist is Ambassador Vreeland is fond of the autonomy plan. Now the Times is admitting Ambassador Vreeland has financial interests with the Moroccan government.A Times correction (caught by Sahara-Watch, natch) Thursday admitted that Vreeland has more than regional peace at mind when he writes for Morocco:
Editors' Note : An Op-Ed article on March 3, about Morocco’s proposal for an autonomous Western Sahara, should have more fully disclosed the background of the author, Frederick Vreeland. Mr. Vreeland, a former American ambassador to Morocco, is also the chairman of a solar-energy company that has had contracts with the Moroccan government.A quick Google search revealed that Ambassador Vreeland owns at least 10% of Noor Web, a corporation that sets up solar panels to electrify rural Morocco. A noble goal, certainly, and not one an Al Gore disciple like myself can dispute. It is ridiculous, though, that a qualifier didn't run next to Vreeland's article.
I'm looking into NoorWeb, but I can't read documents in Arabic or French. If anyone can find proof NoorWeb gets special treatment from the Moroccan government--like, say, no-bid contracts--that'd be a great story.