Public opinion anger pushes Ms. Mitterrand to return home

With the growing anger of the Moroccan public opinion, Ms. Danielle Mitterrand, chairwoman of the France Libertes Foundation, was compelled to cut her planned visit to the Moroccan southern city of Laayoune and returned to France.

Ms Mitterrand was informed at a meeting with the Wali of Casablanca, Driss Benhiman, that hostilities may errupt against her if she keeps on with her planned visit to Laayoune, where the local public opinion was extremely angry at her statements hostile to Morocco's territorial integrity.

Scores of people staged a demonstration on Friday at the Hassan I Airport of Laayoune to protest the visit Ms. Mitterrand was planning to undertake to Laayoune.

The widow of the former French President Francois Mitterrand was informed that her visit would cause trouble in the city and that the local population might turn against her.

The 77-year-old Mitterrand decided to take the first plane to France, despite an invitation by the Casablanca Wali to prolong her stay in Casablanca.