Polisario Front Leader’s Hospital Stay in Spain Raises Diplomatic Questions

The Spanish government confirmed on Thursday that the Secretary General of the Polisario, Brahim Ghali, 73, has been admitted to a Spanish hospital to receive medical care, reports AFP. While the Spanish authorities mention "strictly humanitarian reasons" without giving details on the illness Ghali is suffering from or the center where he has been admitted, Sahrawi sources indicate that the leader has tested positive for Covid-19 and reassure that his condition "is not worrying".

"Brahim Ghali is in Spain to receive medical treatment... I will maintain the utmost discretion on the details," Arancha González Laya, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, told AFP, assuring that the presence of the Polisario leader in Spain "does not prevent or disrupt the excellent relations that Spain maintains with Morocco".

"Morocco is a privileged partner of Spain with which it maintains good relations on the economic, political, commercial and in the fight against illegal immigration and climate change levels. And that will not change," added the Spanish minister.

The situation is embarrassing for Spain, whose relations have recently been strained with Morocco, due to its ambiguous position on the Sahara. Since February, Morocco has postponed sine die the holding of the Moroccan-Spanish bilateral summit for health reasons, according to official information.

The conflict in the Sahara has been going on for years between the Polisario and Morocco. In early April, the military chief of the Polisario, Addah Al-Bendir, was killed in a Moroccan drone attack in a buffer zone in the far south of the Sahara. According to the unofficial Facebook page of the Moroccan Armed Forces, Far-Maroc, Brahim Ghali, who was by his side, "survived".