Fri, 11 Dec 2009
Madrid - Pressure was mounting Friday on Morocco over the hunger strike of Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar, who has not eaten for 26 days. The award-winning activist went on a hunger strike at the airport of the Spanish island of Lanzarote after Morocco barred her from entering the Western Saharan capital Laayoun and took away her passport. Haidar was returning home after receiving a prize in the United States.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Moroccan Foreign Minister Tayeb Fassi-Fihri Thursday to discuss the issue.
"(Clinton) noted our concern about the state of Haidar's health," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Friday in Washington. "But we also want to be able to resolve this situation that she's in."
It was unlikely that the US would mediate, Kelly said. "This is a bilateral issue between Morocco and Spain."
Clinton is to meet with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Washington Monday.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Fassi-Fihri in New York.
"She decided what she decided, which was to keep everyone in this situation of blackmail between my government and Spanish authorities," Fassi-Fihri said after the meeting.
"We cannot respond to this blackmail that goes against our national interest," he added.
Fassi-Fihri stressed that the crisis around Haidar is not humanitarian but "political."
The European Union meanwhile expressed concern over Haidar's deteriorating health and urged Morocco to meet its human rights obligations.
The Spanish government rejected King Juan Carlos' offer to mediate in the conflict, saying he would have little chance of success, the daily El Pais reported.
Haidar defends the independence of Western Sahara, which Morocco annexed after 1975. The territory was held by Spain at the time.
A 1991 UN plan for a referendum on independence has not been carried out, while Morocco has stepped up its campaign of offering autonomy instead of independence to the desert territory.
Morocco seized Haidar's passport, and is refusing to give her a new one unless she admits to being a Moroccan rather than Saharan national.
Madrid - Pressure was mounting Friday on Morocco over the hunger strike of Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar, who has not eaten for 26 days. The award-winning activist went on a hunger strike at the airport of the Spanish island of Lanzarote after Morocco barred her from entering the Western Saharan capital Laayoun and took away her passport. Haidar was returning home after receiving a prize in the United States.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Moroccan Foreign Minister Tayeb Fassi-Fihri Thursday to discuss the issue.
"(Clinton) noted our concern about the state of Haidar's health," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Friday in Washington. "But we also want to be able to resolve this situation that she's in."
It was unlikely that the US would mediate, Kelly said. "This is a bilateral issue between Morocco and Spain."
Clinton is to meet with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Washington Monday.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Fassi-Fihri in New York.
"She decided what she decided, which was to keep everyone in this situation of blackmail between my government and Spanish authorities," Fassi-Fihri said after the meeting.
"We cannot respond to this blackmail that goes against our national interest," he added.
Fassi-Fihri stressed that the crisis around Haidar is not humanitarian but "political."
The European Union meanwhile expressed concern over Haidar's deteriorating health and urged Morocco to meet its human rights obligations.
The Spanish government rejected King Juan Carlos' offer to mediate in the conflict, saying he would have little chance of success, the daily El Pais reported.
Haidar defends the independence of Western Sahara, which Morocco annexed after 1975. The territory was held by Spain at the time.
A 1991 UN plan for a referendum on independence has not been carried out, while Morocco has stepped up its campaign of offering autonomy instead of independence to the desert territory.
Morocco seized Haidar's passport, and is refusing to give her a new one unless she admits to being a Moroccan rather than Saharan national.
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