RELATIVES of three Mauritanians behind bars in Spain for forcing a 12-year-old girl to marry her cousin of 39 have warned of serious repercussions for Spanish expats in their country.

The former Mauritanian diplomat Sidi Brahim Sidat announced to several hundred people in front of the church in Nuakchot (Mauritania) yesterday: “If the injustice committed against our family members in Spain does not end, we cannot stop unhappy Mauritanians from reacting violently against the Spanish community in Nuakchot.”

He then read a fatua – Islamic edict – calling for Muslims in the country to show solidarity for the culprits.

They are being held pending trial in Cádiz over the rape of the daughter of two of them.

She was born in Cádiz in 1992 and at the age of 12, returned to Mauritania with her mother.

A year later she was forced to marry her male cousin, aged 39.

The girl then returned to Spain and her husband followed in June 2007.

A court heard that her parents threatened her to make her sleep with him, which she continually refused to do.

He then entered her room one night and raped her, police say.

The girl’s husband was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison for sexual assault.

Her mother is serving a 17-year sentence as co-accused of the assault, and her father a year and a half for threats.

During yesterday’s protest in Nuakchot, Mauritanian lawyer Mohamedhen Uld Ichidu called for a repeal of the reciprocal relationship between the two countries.

He said in Mauritania, laws relating to marriage and civil status are not applied to foreigners unless one party is a native, and believes the same should apply to Mauritanians in Spain.