"Sahrawi Gandhi" on hunger strike at Spanish airport.Byline: ANI Nairobi, Nov 19(ANI): Sahrawi human rights-defender and political activist Aminatou Haidar Aminatou Haidar (b. 1967) is a Sahrawi human rights-defender, political activist and former disappeared (1987-91). She lives in El Aaiún in Western Sahara with two children (Muhammad and Hayat), is divorced, and holds a baccalaureate in modern literature. , considered by her supporters as the ''Sahrawi Gandhi'', has gone on a hunger strike hunger strike, refusal to eat as a protest against existing conditions. Although most often used by prisoners, others have also employed it. For example, Mohandas Gandhi in India and Cesar Chavez in California fasted as religious penance during otherwise political or at a Spanish airport after being expelled over her refusal to accept Moroccan nationality. Haidar was detained at the airport in Western Sahara's administrative capital, Laayoune, on her return from the US, where she was awarded the Train Foundation's Civil Courage prize of 50,000 dollars for her struggle for the Sahrawis' right to self-determination. After refusing to declare her nationality as Moroccan on arrival, the police confiscated her passport and she was flown to the nearby Canary Islands Canary Islands, Span. Islas Canarias, group of seven islands (1990 pop. 1,589,403), 2,808 sq mi (7,273 sq km), autonomous region of Spain, in the Atlantic Ocean off Western Sahara. They constitute two provinces of Spain. Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1990 pop. . Earlier on November 14, the Moroccan authorities had deported Haidar to Lanzarote from the disputed territory of Western Sahara Western Sahara, territory (2005 est. pop. 273,000), 102,703 sq mi (266,000 sq km), NW Africa, occupied by Morocco. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean in the west, on Morocco in the north, on Algeria in the northeast, and on Mauritania in the east and south. . Morocco has occupied the former Spanish colony since 1975, refusing to give the indigenous Sahrawi population a say on matters related to independence. "I will carry on my hunger strike until the Spanish Government allows me to return to my homeland where my children live or I die," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Haidar, as saying. "Prison in Western Sahara was preferable to detention in Spain," she added. Meanwhile, the Spanish Foreign Ministry has said it could not allow Haidar to return to Laayoune, as she had no passport. The Moroccan Government, which considers Western Sahara to be its southern provinces, even though this has no foundation in international law or formal recognition from any other country, has denied any wrongdoing. Instead, it has accused Haidar of treason and of being an agent of the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi nationalist movement that fought a 16-year desert war against Morocco. The conflict ended in 1991, with both parties agreeing to an UN-sponsored referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people. But Morocco has consistently blocked the vote, and the Polisario remains in exile in Algeria. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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