Morocco withholds visa renewal for Reuters photographer

"The ministry (of communication) has decided not to renew the accreditation of Rafael Marchante as a Reuters agency photographer in Morocco," it said in a statement.  The ministry denied it had ever ordered his expulsion from the country.

Marchante, a Spanish national, has worked as a freelance photographer for Reuters in Morocco since 2006.

According to the ministry statement he was "accredited to Morocco to exercise freely his mission and not behave as a political adversary under the cover of journalistic privilege".

It criticised him for "non-respect of the rules of the profession" and "working for several press organs without declaring he was doing so".

The ministry said it was ready to accredit "any other journalist put forward by the Reuters agency".

AFP quoted a Reuters statement issued in London as saying Marchante had respected professsional ethics and acted at all times with integrity, independence and without bias.

It called on the ministry to review its decision and hoped Marchante could soon resume work. ■