Former victim of Polisario torture dies

Zafati Mohamed Yahdih Ould Faraji, who was tortured for 16 years in Polisario prisons before his return to Morocco, died Tuesday at the age of 67.

The Algeria-backed Polisario separatist group is claiming the separation of Morocco's southern provinces (known as the Sahara). The former Spanish colony was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under Madrid Accords.

The Moroccan citizen, kidnapped by the Polisario separatists in 1976 in the region of El Aargoub, was partly paralyzed by the rheumatism he contracted in the prisons of the separatists.

According to the Boujdour-based Association for legality and territorial integrity "Amal," Zafati (alias "El Koundi") died in Las Palmas where he was under medical care for different diseases he contracted in the prisons of the Polisario.

Last January, a Moroccan soldier held captive for 17 years by the Polisario in Tindouf camps (Algeria), died a couple of days after his repatriation to Morocco.

Mohamed Lahmadi was seriously ill when he was repatriated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with another Moroccan soldier who was also in a poor health condition.