Financial Times-Morocco yields on Western Sahara activist
Victor Mallet, 18 December 2009
Morocco early on Friday yielded to pleas from foreign governments and allowed a prominent Western Sahara independence activist to return home, ending her 32-day hunger strike and defusing a diplomatic row that had threatened European Union-Morocco relations.
"This is a triumph and a victory for international law, human rights, international justice and the Sahrawi cause," Ms Haidar said on her return.
Carne Ross, a former British diplomat who advises on international affairs and admires Ms Haidar, has blamed Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, for inadvertently encouraging the Moroccan authorities to crack down on Sahrawi activists when she praised the country's human rights record and its plans for the Western Sahara in an interview before her recent visit to Morocco.
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