The separatists of the Polisario in Western Sahara gathered a congress on Friday to renew their leadership, in a context of strong tensions between their Algerian ally and Morocco which controls 80% of the territory, according to AFP journalists on the spot.
The congress, which is to see the movement elect the leader and members of its national secretariat, is to last five days, in the presence of 2,200 delegates and 370 foreign guests 175 km south of the Algerian city of Tindouf, in the refugee camp of Dakhla, which bears the name of a coastal town in Western Sahara, a territory rich in phosphates and with fish-filled waters at the heart of a 50-year-old conflict.
The current leader of the Polisario, Brahim Ghali, 73, who seems to enjoy the indispensable support of Algiers, seems assured of being re-elected during this congress which will end on Tuesday.
“This is the first congress since the resumption of the armed struggle” at the end of 2020, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, Sahrawi ambassador to South Africa, told AFP.
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 the UN 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”.
– “Total sovereignty” –
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 recognition by the US administration of Donald Trump at the end of 2020 of its sovereignty over this territory in return for a rapprochement with Israel, Morocco has since deployed an 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 Abdeslam, representative of the Polisario in Geneva, denying press reports on a battle over the succession by Mr. Ghali.
“To date, there is no list of candidates for the post of secretary general. These are only rumours,” she said.
– “Continuity of the fight” –
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 deadlocked negotiations to allow a “durable and mutually acceptable solution” with a view to “self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”.
A new UN envoy, the Italian-Swedish Staffan de Mistura, has visited the region several times in recent months without obtaining any progress.
