Spanish Air Force Reveals Official Who Authorized Polisario Leader’s Covert Entry

The military command of the Zaragoza base has finally responded to the Spanish judge Rafael Lasala, president of the 7th investigating court of Zaragoza. In a letter, General José Luis Ortiz-Cañavate, head of the Zaragoza air base, stated that he "received on April 18 a telephone order from the Air Force General Staff not to have the separatist leader go through passport control or customs," reports El Español. He will specify that it was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, who gave this order to the Ministry of Defense, which in turn instructed it.

"That’s why we didn’t know who was on that plane, since none of its occupants were identified," explains General José Luis Ortiz-Cañavate. The information received by telephone states that "a patient with an Algerian diplomatic passport was traveling on board this plane, arrived on a medicalized stretcher and was accompanied by one person."

The senior military official will add that the names of the passengers were unknown, as the passports were not requested. "However, in accordance with the procedures in force, any person landing at this airport from a country outside the Schengen area must be subject to an identity and travel document check," he points out.

The report sent to the judge indicates that the plane that transported Brahim Ghali landed at the military air command of Zaragoza airport on April 18 at 7:25 pm. After his arrival in La Rioja in a medical ambulance, he was admitted to a hospital in Logroño, under the false Algerian identity (Mohamed Benbatouch).