The leader of the Western Sahara independence movement at the heart of a diplomatic spat between Spain and Morocco will appear before an investigating judge in Spain on June 1, representatives of the Polisario Front in Spain said Wednesday. Brahim Ghali heads the Polisario Front and the self-declared Sahrawi Democratic Arab Republic based on refugee camps in western Algeria. Ghali had initially declined to sign a summons from Spain's High Court for a preliminary hearing in a war crimes case against him. Last week, Morocco appeared to relax border controls with the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, leading to thousands of people crossing illegally. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said earlier on Tuesday the country was failing to protect its borders.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 26, 2021 07:52 UTC