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"Morocco keeps tight control of Laayoune using network of informers," headlines the daily El Mundo, reporting on Rabat’s “iron grip” on the capital of Western Sahara in the wake of riots prompted by the dismantling of the Gdem Izik Sahrawi refugee camp on 8 November. The violence led to the deaths of 11 members Moroccan security forces and an unspecified number of Sahrawi civilian victims (between 2 and 4 according to Rabat, 36 according to representatives of the separatist Polisario Front). The daily looks back on the news blackout imposed by Morocco, which was finally lifted on 21 November. Rabat insisted on keeping foreign journalists away from the former Spanish colony annexed in 1976, claiming that they were supporters of the separatist political movement — a move that heightened diplomatic tensions with Madrid. However, in the interest of preserving good relations, the Spanish government stopped short of condemning the Moroccan attack on the camp.
