Morocco And Spain In Paedophile Mix-Up Jail Row

A paedophile who raped 11 children but was mistakenly pardoned by Morocco's king has been sent to prison after being recaptured in Spain.

Daniel Galvan Vina was wrongly freed from prison in Morocco by King Mohammed VI and returned to Spain in a mix up which triggered riots in the north African country.

The King rescinded his pardon and an international arrest warrant was issued for Galvan, who was then recaptured in the Spanish city of Murcia.

Now a Spanish court has ruled the 63-year-old should remain in prison while officials from both countries meet to decide his fate.

Galvan was convicted of raping 11 children aged between four and 15 in Morocco and sentenced to 30 years in prison there.

Last month Spain says it asked Morocco to pardon 18 Spaniards in prison there and transfer 30 others, including Galvan, back to Spain to serve their sentences.

However, in an apparent misunderstanding, the king pardoned and freed all 48 on Throne Day on July 30.

The decision sparked furious protests last week as thousands rallied in front of the parliament in the Moroccan capital Rabat, leading to violent clashes with police.

On Sunday, the king rescinded his pardon and an international arrest warrant was issued.

Morocco is now seeking Galvan's extradition but under a bilateral agreement he could be allowed to serve out his sentence in Spain.

The case is also complicated by the fact that in Spain the government cannot revoke a pardon.

The Spanish National Court heard that Galvan was born in Iraq but was granted Spanish nationality after marrying a Spaniard, from whom he is now divorced.

The court said he has spent most of his life in Spain and Iraq but has also lived in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Britain and most recently Morocco.

The affair has caused embarrassment in both Morocco and Spain, with questions being raised about Galvan's background.

Daily newspaper El Pais reported that Galvan told his Moroccan lawyer that he was a former official in the Iraqi army who had worked with foreign secret services to oust Saddam Hussein.

The name Daniel Galvan was "an identity that was fabricated by secret services when they got him out of Iraq, they provided him with Spanish documentation and converted him into a retired professor from Murcia," the newspaper said.

Galvan worked at the University of Murcia until 2002, before moving to the Moroccan port of Kenitra in 2005.