A former Olympic athlete from Morocco who once lived in Norway is carrying on his battle against the Norwegian government, which he claims was behind efforts to kidnap the two children he had with his former Norwegian wife.
Khalid Skah, who competed at the summer games in Barcelona, held a protest outside the Norwegian Embassy in Rabat this week, complete with photographs of Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, with whom Skah says he is “at war.”
Skah, whose demonstration reportedly attracted around 20 supporters, also displayed photos of Defense Minister Grete Faremo and Justice Minister Knut Storberget. He claims they directly or indirectly backed the transport of his two children out of Morocco, after the children allegedly had run away from him last summer and shown up at the Norwegian Embassy seeking refuge.
They were then spirited out of Morocco on a sailboat, by men attached to Norway’s special forces but who insisted they were acting on a freelance basis. That set off a diplomatic incident between Norway and Morocco. Faremo and other Norwegian officials claimed the government was not involved but Skah doesn’t believe that and his own government called for the soldiers involved to be punished.
One of the men who helped reunite the children with their mother and get them all back to Norway was among four Norwegian soldiers killed in Afghanistan earlier this summer.
Skah told reporters this week that he believes Støre approved the entire operation and Skah threatened to seize his children in Norway and take them back to Morocco.
“I will do whatever it takes to get my children back,” he told newspaper Dagbladet. “I will hire people who hate Norway and who would consider taking on the job.”
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