Excerpt from a report by Moroccan news agency MAP (via M&C News):

Laayoune, 19 June: Hundreds of citizens today Sunday held a protest at the Hassan I Airport in Laayoune against the scheming intentions and provocative attempts of the Spanish pro-separatist activists who are trying to visit the town despite the Moroccan authorities' refusal to let them step on national soil.

Among the protesters were deputies, appointees, Moroccan Sahara tribal leaders, representatives of political parties, unions and civil society groups.

The organizers of the protest say that they have organized the demonstration in condemnation of attempts to influence the Moroccan people's consensus on the issue of its territorial integrity. They say they are also protesting against the actions of some foreign parties, especially those Spanish supporters of the separatists.

The "scheming intentions and provocative attempts" referenced are plans by Spanish solidarity groups to document the violent repression following last month's uprising in Western Sahara. It should be noted that no government on earth (except Morocco) considers Laayoune, Western Sahara's capital, to be Moroccan "national soil." We have a hunch the "civil society groups" referenced are Morocco-sponsored astroturf organizations. Morocco continues to restrict journalists and rights observers from the occupied territory.

For more on the situation in Western Sahara, see ARSO, the Association for a Free Referendum in Western Sahara, and our last post.