Morocco Summons Spanish Ambassador Over Polisario Leader’s Hospitalization in Spain

A summons that takes the form of a clarification. Faced with what it calls the disloyal attitude of Madrid, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad reminded Ambassador Ricardo Diez Hochleitner that the Sahara is a sacred and national cause, reports Sahara média. Rabat expressed its anger and discontent.

On April 21, Brahim Ghali, "President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)" and Secretary General of the Polisario Front, was urgently hospitalized in Spain, near Zaragoza, under an Algerian alias (Mohamed Benbatouche), after contracting Covid-19.

In a statement to the press, Arancha González Laya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, confirmed the presence of the leader of the independence movement on Spanish soil "for strictly humanitarian reasons" and at the same time assured that "this does not prevent and does not disrupt the excellent relations that Spain has with Morocco".