Morocco cops crush protest by Sahrawis

ALGIERS: Moroccan police violently dispersed a protest by separatists in the Western Sahara, Algerian TV and rights activists reported yesterday, during a visit to the disputed territory by UN envoy Christopher Ross.
The independent Ennahar TV channel broadcast images of plainclothes Moroccan police beating Sahrawi men and women in Laayoune, chasing them through the streets and dragging some of them along the ground.
“The police violently dispersed Sahrawi activists who attempted to stage a protest demanding the independence of the Western Sahara,” an unidentified activist was quoted as saying.
Mahmoud Iguilid, the Laayoune representative of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, confirmed the violent suppression of Sahrawi activists, which he said took place on Saturday, before a planned protest to coincide with Ross’s visit.
“Plainclothes police beat up the activists, many of them women, to prevent the protest. It happens every time there is a visit by a UN or human rights official,” he told AFP, adding that security in the region had been heavily reinforced.