The Polisario in Spain

It is not by chance that the Spanish government has accepted the reception for medical treatment in the San Jorge hospital in Logroño of the secretary general of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali. Perhaps he thought he could keep the secret of his stay in Spain by registering under the false name of Mohamed Benbatouch. A serious mistake, because in these times with the new technologies and the demonstrated capacity of the Moroccan intelligence services, it was a matter of hours before the whereabouts of the Polisario leader became known, thanks to a leak to the magazine Jeune Afrique.

The justification put forward by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, for her decision to grant entry and the necessary medical care to Ghali was strictly humanitarian. Of course, every human being should be cared for in case of need, but the political connotations of the Saharawi leader are more than obvious. Especially if one considers Germany's refusal to accept his transfer to the same hospital where the President of Algeria, Abdelmajid Tebboune, was treated for coronavirus.

And if one considers why the Algerian government and the Polisario Front did not opt for Russia, which is usual, or for France, more committed, and chose Spain, it may be for a strictly medical reason: his state of health required a quick and short transfer from Algiers, which is not as good as his co-religionists have said in a statement, or because the Spanish government would have been most receptive to receive Ghali. In this case, the political option must be left aside of the possible judicial action because, if it has not been filed as some sources point out, the Polisario leader has pending with the Audiencia Nacional an investigation for the commission of crimes of genocide, murder, torture and disappearances allegedly committed against the dissident Saharawi population in the camps of Tindouf (Algeria).

Ghali will have to answer to justice when he recovers from the coronavirus, if his state of health is not more serious because of other illnesses such as hepatitis C, cirrhosis of the liver or colon cancer. The head of Spanish diplomacy has hastened to point out that this situation should not affect the excellent relations with Morocco, which is a privileged partner. One wonders now whether the government will take a decision on the dynamics unleashed by the Trump administration's recognition, not reversed by Biden, of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara. The UN is dealing with the new situation created and the party of French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to open a headquarters in the Saharawi city of Dakhla.

With the necessary balance with Algeria, the attention to Ghali in Logroño is a first symptom.