18 Dec, 2009, Morocco, Africa

The Western Sahara activist who was expelled by Morocco has been allowed to return from Spain after she maintained a hunger strike for around a month. Aminatou Haidar of 42 years left Lanzarote airport in Canary Islands on small, private plane after the deal was reached whose details are unclear. She said that her fast will continue till the time she safely reaches home with her children.

She lived only on sweetened water and now she has developed some health problems and left for the hospital in Lanzarote in ambulance.

She also said that this is triumph for the international law, human rights, international justice and the cause of the Western Sahara. The US, Spain and France are believed to be involved in negotiations with Morocco for sending her home to Laayoune, main town in the Western Sahara The mother-of-two has returned to Laayoune after she accepted a human rights award in the US as she was stopped by the Moroccan authorities. They denied her entrance in the disputed territory, confiscating the passport on grounds that she has rejected her Moroccan nationality.

Ms. Haidar turned down the Spanish offer of citizenship or the political asylum.

Her protest at her treatment made her won the support of many prominent Spaniards that include the actor Javier Bardem and the film director Pedro Almodovar.