Morocco suspended the screening license for the hit film "Zanka Contact" on Thursday for using a song by a singer who allegedly backs the independence of disputed Western Sahara.

The Moroccan Cinematographic Centre (CCM), which had funded the film's creation with $380,000 from the government, said it had suspended the operating permit, calling it a "betrayal" of the agreed-upon production.

Ismael El Iraki's French-Moroccan film Zanka Contact tells the love story of an aging rock star and a singer on a road trip.

It was released in Morocco in September 2021 after winning first place at the Moroccan National Film Festival in Tangier last month.

Its soundtrack includes a song by the late Sahrawi singer Mariem Hassan, who allegedly supports the Polisario Front, which seeks independence for Western Sahara.

The Polisario Front has fought with Morocco since the 1970s over the control of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony.

An UN-brokered ceasefire deal was reached in 1991, and the UN Security Council voted in favor of holding a referendum to define the status of the territory, but Moroccan authorities, who control nearly 80% of the vast desert region rich in phosphates and marine resources, have since opposed any vote that includes independence as an option, supporting the idea of limited autonomy only.

The CCM suspended the filmmaker's membership card and gave the film's production company 48 hours to follow through on the original agreement and remove the song.

In a statement, the film's producers and director said they were "sorry to see a misunderstanding take on such proportions," adding that the choice of song was "purely aesthetic and musical."