W Sahara activist's life at risk
2009-12-06 19:39
Arrecife - Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar was so weak from her now three-week long hunger strike that her life was in danger, her doctor in Spain reported on Sunday.
The 43-year-old campaigner for Western Saharan independence had only ingested sugar water since she began a hunger strike at the airport of the Spanish island of Lanzarote on November 15.
"Morocco and Spain are killing me," Haidar said at the airport, where she is waiting for permission to return to Moroccan occupied Western Sahara.
Haidar was put on a plane to Lanzarote by Moroccan authorities after they seized her passport in the Western Saharan capital Laayoun. Arriving from the Canary Islands, she was barred entry by Moroccan authorities because she announced her nationality as Saharan instead of Moroccan.
Morocco is refusing to give Haidar a new passport unless she recognises her Moroccan nationality.
Haidar has rejected Spain's proposals to grant her Spanish nationality or refugee status so she can get a passport. The activist rejects all proposals other than allowing her to return to Laayoun without conditions.
- SAPA