The Polisario separatists in Western Sahara are meeting in congress from Friday to renew their leadership, in a context of strong tensions between their Algerian ally and Morocco, which controls 80% of the territory..
More than 2,200 delegates and 370 foreign guests meet for five days 175 km south of the Algerian town of Tindouf, in the refugee camp of Dakhla, which bears the name of a coastal town in Western Sahara, a wealthy territory in phosphates and fish-filled waters at the heart of a 50-year-old conflict.
The current leader of the Polisario, Brahim Ghali73, who seems to enjoy the indispensable support of Algiers, seems certain to be re-elected during the congress which is due to open in the followingnoon and end on Tuesday.
“This is the first congress since the resumption of the armed struggle“at the end of 2020, underlined with AFP, Mohamed Yeslem BeissatSahrawi Ambassador to South Africa.
The Western Sahara conflict opposes Morocco to the Polisario front supported by Algeria, since the disengagement in 1975 of Spain, the former colonial power.
The Polisario calls for a self-determination referendum under the aegis of theHIM while Rabat promotes autonomy under its sovereignty.
A ceasefire in effect since 1991 was shattered in mid-November 2020 following the deployment of Moroccan troops in the far south of the territory to dislodge separatists who were blocking the only road to Mauritania, according to them illegal because it did not exist at the time of the agreement with Rabat.
Since then, the Polisario says it is “in a state of war of self-defense” and declared “a war zone the entire territory of the Sahrawi Republic, including its land, sea and air spaces”.
“Escalation of the Struggle”
The congress is being held as Western Sahara is at the heart of heightened tensions between the two Maghreb powers.
Algeria indeed severed its diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021 due to deep disagreements on this file and the security rapprochement between Rabat and Israel.
Emboldened by the US administration’s recognition of Donald Trump at the end of 2020 of its sovereignty over this territory in return for a rapprochement with Israel, Morocco has since been deploying increasingly offensive diplomacy to rally other countries to its positions.
The 16th congress of the movement gave itself the slogan: the “escalation of the struggle for the withdrawal of the (Moroccan) occupier and to impose total sovereignty”.
The mandate of Mr. Ghali, who succeeded in July 2016 to the historic leader Mohamed Abdelaziz, who died a few weeks earlier, expires at the congress.
As secretary general of the Polisario, Mr. Ghali is also president of the Sahrawi Arab Republic (SADR), self-proclaimed in 1976.
“The last word will go to the Saharawi people during this congress. The post of secretary general is not the monopoly of anyone”, affirmed Oumeima AbdeslamPolisario representative in Geneva, denying press information on a battle over the succession of Mr. Ghali.
“To date, there is no list of candidates for the post of secretary general. These are only rumours,” she said.
“New Context”
For the Algerian professor and specialist in international law Tahar Eddine Ammari, Mr. Ghali will be reappointed to the head of the Polisario because “if the congress decides to replace him, the Sahrawi representation would be weakened”. It is a “logical choice for the continuity of the Saharawi fight”, he said.
The movement must on the other hand “adapt to the new international context”, explained Mr. Ammari, citing in particular the reversal of Spain, the former colonial power, now aligned with the position of Morocco.
At the end of October, the UN Security Council called for a resumption of negotiationsdeadlocked, to allow a “durable and mutually acceptable solution” in the perspective of “self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”.
A new UN envoy, the Italian-Swedish Staffan de Misturahas visited the region several times in recent months without obtaining any progress.
