Spain investigates death of Spaniard in Sahara violence - Summary

Fri, 12 Nov 2010

Madrid - Spain has requested "urgent" information from Morocco on the alleged killing of a Spanish citizen during this week's clashes between protesters and security forces in Western Sahara, Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said Friday.

The Western Saharan man with Spanish nationality was ordered to descend from a bus and hit deliberately by a police vehicle, his family said.

The situation in the Western Saharan capital Laayoune was reportedly tense after Moroccan security forces dispersed a protest camp near the city on Monday.

The raid on the camp was followed by clashes in Laayoune itself. Morocco says 11 members of the security forces and two civilians were killed and dozens of people arrested.

The Western Saharan independence movement Polisario says dozens were killed, more than 4,000 injured and over 2,000 detained. Spanish media quoted local people as accusing Moroccan forces of unjustified violence and of torture.

Rabat denies allegations of police brutality, saying police only arrested people who staged disturbances.

Morocco expelled three Spanish journalists who had managed to enter Laayoune, Jimenez confirmed, urging Rabat to facilitate the work of journalists in the area.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government has come under criticism for its alleged reluctance to criticize Morocco over the recent violence.

Jimenez said Spain deplored the "very serious" events in Western Sahara, but was unable to condemn them for lack of sufficient information. She described Morocco as a "key partner" for Spain.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara after the colonial power Spain pulled out of there in 1975.

Rabat has refused to carry out a referendum on independence foreseen by the United Nations, and is offering the desert territory autonomy instead. Several years of UN-sponsored negotiations have produced hardly any concrete results.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353289,sahara-violence-summary.html.