Strasbourg, 17/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Hoping to reach a diplomatic breakthrough that will allow the case of Aminatou Haidar to be resolved, the European Parliament has decided not to take a stance on a resolution that it was to adopt during the afternoon of Thursday 17 December. S&D Group President Martin Schulz called on his colleagues not to adopt the text, saying he had information that pointed to a diplomatic outcome being found in the near future between the Spanish and Moroccan authorities. In his view, it is preferable to remove this urgency from the agenda as any further debate would only complicate the work of diplomats. By withdrawing the resolution, he said, “we shall better help to find a solution”. Immediately backed by his EPP counterpart, Joseph Daul, this approach gave rise to protest from some MEPs. The proposals aimed at withdrawing the point from the agenda was nonetheless adopted by 249 votes to 163 and 135 abstentions.
Time, however, is running short. In November, Aminatou Haidar was expelled from Morocco after returning from a visit to the United States where she had been awarded a prize for her fight for human rights. According to Moroccan authorities, she refused to recognise Moroccan nationality by registering her residence as the Western Sahara on identity papers. Deprived of her identity papers, she was sent back to Lanzarote airport in Spain. Very weakened by a hunger strike of 30 days, Ms Haidar was hospitalised during the night of Wednesday to Thursday. Before that, the Spanish prime minister had said he hoped to come to a swift and positive solution with the Moroccan authorities.
In its resolution, the Parliament calls on the Kingdom of Morocco to allow Aminatou Haidar to return to the Western Sahara without delay, and to return her documents to her. MEPs also called for a delegation to be sent to the Western Sahara to assess the human rights situation there, as during January 2009. (A.B./transl.jl)