Spanish government pledges to guarantee Moroccan nationals' security

Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes pledged to guarantee security to Moroccan nationals and to see to it that the incidents which shook recently the Spanish locality of El Egido will never occur again.

In an interview with MAP bureau in Madrid Wednesday, Matutes termed the incidents "unbearable" because, he said, they contradict the spirit of the Spanish society in general.

Moroccans settled in the Andalusian locality of El Egido, near Almeria, were subject to terrorist acts Monday night in retaliation for the murder of a Spanish woman allegedly by a mentally-disturbed Moroccan.

Matutes said El Egido events are the consequence of the situation of illegal immigrants whose number was beyond the forecasts of the Spanish administration.

He added that he Spanish government presently undertakes to tackle the problem of immigration and to adopt a clear policy which consists in increasing progressively the number of seasonal immigrants.

Matutes said that immigrants should enjoy the same rights as Spaniards taking into account the new law on rights and freedoms of immigrants which was adopted by Parliament last December despite the opposition of the Spanish government.

The El Egido events were strongly denounced by the Moroccan government and by Moroccan secretary of state for cooperation, Aicha Belarbi, who is taking part in Spanish-Moroccan socioeconomic days held here.

The Moroccan official called at a news conference here on the Spanish government to ensure the Moroccan expatriates' protection and urged for the enforcement of the convention on the protection of immigrants and their families. This convention has not yet been signed by European countries.

Aicha Belarbi who noted the Spanish government's slow intervention after the violent acts flared up, deplored the attitude of the Spanish public opinion whose stand is often prompted by prejudices and stereotypes.

52 Moroccans were seriously injured and 17 arrested

during El Egido clashes which were denounced by both the Spanish and Moroccan media, non governmental organizations and immigrant associations including the association of Moroccan immigrant workers in Spain.

Moroccan workers settled in El Egido have observed a three-day strike which caused losses to agricultural farms estimated at 2 billion pesetas per day.