EU presses Rabat over W Sahara activist

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union urged Morocco on Thursday to fulfil its "international human rights obligations" and cooperate with Madrid in the case of a Western Sahara activist on hunger strike in Spain.

Aminatou Haidar is in the fourth week of a hunger strike at a Spanish airport after Rabat denied her entry to her native Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco in 1975.

The EU presidency "expresses its concern for her health and calls upon the Moroccan authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations and to cooperate with the Spanish authorities so that a positive solution may be reached regarding her situation," a statement said.

Morocco is demanding an apology from Haidar, alleging that she has offended the north African state's "symbols".

The 42-year-old mother of two, who campaigns for Western Sahara's independence, was returning to her hometown of Laayoune after a trip to receive a human rights award in the United States.

Asked on Thursday if she would return to Morocco if her passport was reinstated, she told reporters there she would return "dead or alive, with or without my passport".