Activist snubs Spanish offer
2009-11-30 11:14
Madrid - A lawyer for a prominent Western Sahara independence activist who has been on a two-week hunger strike since Morocco expelled her from the disputed territory says her client has rejected an offer of Spanish citizenship.
Attorney Ines Miranda says Aminatou Haidar rejected the offer in a meeting on Sunday with Spanish foreign ministry officials who visited her at Lanzarote airport in the Canary Islands, which are part of Spain.
Haidar has been camped out there since November 14, when Morocco stripped her of her passport and expelled her after she refused to acknowledge Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.
Haidar wants to return to the territory, where she lives. But Spain says she cannot leave the country without a passport.
- SAPA