On Nov. 8, hundreds of Moroccan troops raided a protest camp near the
city of Laayoune in Western Sahara, Middle East Newsline reported. The troops were said to have encountered
protesters, many of them with Polisario flags, who hurled stones, gas
cylinders and makeshift bombs.
Opposition sources said the
clashes, which took place as the United Nations arranged for talks on the
future of Western Sahara, killed up to 16 people, most of them Moroccan
officers.
Morocco has acknowledged the protests, saying at least five officers
were killed. Officials said troops, who employed tear gas, high-pressure
water hoses and batons, were sent to raid the Gdam Izik camp amid reports
that many of the 12,000 residents had been held against their will by
Polisario.
"Only four civilians were injured," Moroccan Interior Minister Taieb
Cherkaoui said.
The Moroccan Interior Ministry said the Royal Gendarmerie and Civil
Defense arrested criminal fugitives. The ministry said the hour-long raid of
Gdam took place after two weeks of negotiations to disband the camp,
established to protest conditions in nearby Laayoune.
"The detainees include ex-convicts, individuals wanted for petty crime,
and opportunists, who are in no way related to the social demands, but
exploited them for their political aims in accordance with a well-defined
agenda," the ministry said. "The arrested people will be brought before
justice after the conclusion of the investigation."
Over the last three years, Polisario has repeatedly threatened to renew
its confrontation with Morocco. The movement, which controls refugee camps
in the Tindouf region, has rejected Morocco's offer for autonomy for Western
Sahara.
"I shall never abandon my loyal subjects in the Tindouf camps, or
wherever else they may," Morocco's King Mohammed said. "We shall spare no
effort to enable them to enjoy their basic rights to freedom of expression
and movement and their right of return to their homeland."