The bottom line is that Polisario’s actions have been consistent with a terrorist organization, which has been implicated in violent attacks against both Morocco government and civilian institutions. In 1976, Mohamed Abdelaziz was elected at the III Congress of the Polisario, and held the post until his death in 2016. A large pool of recruitment for AQIM Although the contamination of one part of the Polisario by Salafist ideology does not mean an Islamisation of the movement as a whole, the Polisario … Instead, the entire Eastern Bloc decided in favor of ties and trade with Morocco and refused to recognize the SADR. The ceasefire coincided with the end of the Cold War. A 21-man Politburo would further check decisions and connect the movement with its affiliated "mass organizations", UGTSARIO, UJSARIO and UNMS (see below). [citation needed] For the next two years the movement grew tremendously as Sahrawi refugees continued flocking to the camps and Algeria and Libya supplied arms and funding. Military and political organisation in Western Sahara, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير ساقية الحمراء و وادي الذهب, Learn how and when to remove this template message, economically useful parts of Western Sahara, Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, protests and riots in 2005 by Sahrawis in "the occupied territories", Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, "The Polisario's Marxist past sinks into the desert sands", Member parties of the Socialist International – Observer parties, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 34/37, "Proyecto Desaparecidos: Mohamed Basiri el mas antiguo desaparecido saharaui", "Fighting in Morocco May Present Biden with Fresh Africa Crisis Amid COVID Surge", "'11 Sept has not influenced Western Sahara's situation'", "Algeria Claims Spanish Sahara Is Being Invaded", "Editor Chris Brazier’s Journey Into Polosario Territory, Including His Trip Through A Cleared Minefield, A Visit To An Underground Hospital, And To A Guerrilla Army Base", "Western Sahara under Polisario Control: Summary Report of Field Mission to the Sahrawi Refugee Camps (near Tindouf, Algeria)", Forced Migration Organization: FMO Research Guide Bibliography, The Association for a Free & Fair Referendum in Western Sahara, R.A.S.D. It was, despite a few changes, inherited from the before 1975, when the Polisario Front functioned as a small, tightly-knit guerrilla movement, with a few hundred members. Free Online Library: The Challenges Of Terrorism - Part 42 - The Polisario Front For The Western Sahara. We scrutinize of what has happened to the Polisario. The Polisario Front is a separatist group based in desert camps near Tindouf, Algeria. The SPLA traditionally employed ghazzi tactics, i.e., motorized surprise raids over great distances, which were inspired by the traditional camel-back war parties of the Sahrawi tribes. Additionally, many third world non-aligned countries have supported the Polisario Front. [3][4] The Polisario Front is outlawed in the parts of Western Sahara under Moroccan control, and it is illegal to raise its party flag (often called the Sahrawi flag) there. But it remains of little importance to the conflict, as the group had split in two factions, and Polisario has refused dialogs with it, stating that political decisions must be taken within the established political system. It describes its struggle as a "clean war of national liberation". It is probably intended to strengthen the movement's underground network in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, and link up with the rapidly growing Sahrawi civil rights activism. The organizational order described below applies today, and was roughly finalized in the 1991 internal reforms of the movement, although minor changes have been made since then. For multiple users rates contact TRAC. The United States claimed political neutrality on the issue, but militarily backed Morocco against Polisario during the Cold War, especially during the Reagan administration. The NS is elected by the GPC. But its arsenals display a bewildering variety of material, much of it captured from Spanish, Mauritanian (Panhard AMLs) or Moroccan forces (Eland Mk7s, Ratel IFVs, AMX-13s, SK-105 Kürassiers) and made in France, the United States, South Africa, Austria, or Britain. The most intense open warfare in the conflict in Western Sahara occurred during the Cold War. Support from Algeria remains strong, despite the country's preoccupation with its own civil war. World interest in the conflict seemed to expire in the 1990s as the Sahara question gradually sank from public consciousness due to decreasing media attention. This is to be decided by a Polisario Front congress upon the achievement of Western Sahara's independence. As a courtesy to private researchers, TRAC offers a discounted rate to individuals who are subscribing from a personal email address and paying with a personal credit/debit card. Polisario Front officials have accused Moroccan security forces of indiscriminately shooting at civilians in the Western Sahara who were protesting Morocco’s alleged “plundering” of resources from the Sahrawi—the indigenous people of the Western Sahara. This led to the negotiations process known as the Manhasset negotiations. The Polisario Front has demonstrated its commitment to engaging in terrorist activity. The Polisario Front has denounced terrorism and attacks against civilians, and sent condolences to Morocco after the 2003 Casablanca bombings. A key diplomatic dispute between Morocco and Polisario is over the international diplomatic recognition of the SADR as a sovereign state and Western Sahara's legitimate government. Morocco is one of 40 governments that have not signed the 1997 mine ban treaty. The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, FRELISARIO or simply POLISARIO, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro, Arabic: الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير ساقية الحمراء و وادي الذهب Al-Jabhat Al-Sha'abiyah Li-Tahrir Saqiya Al-Hamra'a wa Wadi Al-Dhahab, French: Front populaire de Libération de la Seguia el Hamra et de la Rivière d'or), is a rebel national liberation movement by the Sahrawi people (of the Sahara) aiming to take control of the Western Sahara, which had been controlled by Spain, Mauritania, and as of 2021[update] was under the rule of Morocco. This observation leads us to believe that several members of the Polisario Front are involved in terrorist groups, either within Aqim or ISGS. The social media page, whose information is often accurate, added that the strike “resulted in the killing of several leading elements, including the leader of the so-called gendarmerie in the terrorist organisation while Ibrahim Ghali, secretary-general of the Polisario Front, managed to escape.” Within months, its army had expanded to several thousand armed fighters, camels were replaced by modern jeeps (most of them were Spanish Land Rover Santana jeeps, captured from Moroccan soldiers), and 19th-century muskets were replaced by assault rifles. Mohamed Abdelaziz has repeatedly stated that the Moroccan withdrawal from the 1991 Settlement Plan and refusal to sign the 2003 Baker Plan would logically lead to war from its perspective if the international community does not step in. [9], After Moroccan pressures through the Green March of 6 November and the Royal Moroccan Army's previous invasion of eastern Saguia el-Hamra of 31 October, Spain entered negotiations that led to the signing of the Madrid Accords whereby Spain ceded Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania; in 1976 Morocco took over Saguia El Hamra and Mauritania took control of Río de Oro. The Polisario locked him up in 2010, declared him a traitor, and threatened his family. Morocco, in its turn, insisted on only negotiating the terms of autonomy offered, but refused to consider an option of independence on the ballot. [7] They called themselves the Constituent Congress of the Polisario Front. Multiple users within govermental/military, corporate, and media, as well as colleges and universities, receive pro-rated subscription discounts based on the number of users. [citation needed], The Polisario kept up the guerrilla war while they simultaneously had to help guard the columns of Sahrawi refugees fleeing, but after the air bombings by the Royal Moroccan Air Force on improvised Sahrawi refugee camps in Umm Dreiga, Tifariti, Guelta Zemmur and Amgala, the Front had to relocate the refugees to Tindouf (western region of Algeria). Most of them returned from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria to Morocco, among them a few founder members and senior officials. These typically care for distribution of food, water and schooling in their area, joining in higher-level organs (encompassing several camp quarters) to cooperate and establish distribution chains. By the late 1970s, references to socialism in the republic's constitution were removed, and by 1991, the Polisario was explicitly pro-free market.[1]. The project was presented to the United Nations Security Council in mid-April 2007, and quickly gained French and US support. Kenya and Uruguay followed in 2005, and relations were upgraded in some other countries, while recognition of the SADR was cancelled by others (Albania[citation needed], Chad[citation needed], Serbia); in 2006, Kenya suspended its decision to recognize the SADR to act as a mediating party. The first Secretary General was Brahim Gali,[15] replaced in 1974 by El-Ouali at the II Congress of the Polisario Front, followed by Mahfoud Ali Beiba as Interim Secretary General upon his death. It views itself as a "front" encompassing all political trends in Sahrawi society, and not as a political party. [citation needed] Polisario then gradually gained control over large swaths of desert countryside, and its power grew from early 1975 when the Tropas Nomadas began deserting to the Polisario, bringing weapons and training with them. The Polisario Front is led by a Secretary General. The SADR and the Polisario Front have no navy or air force. Groups and individuals included in TRAC's database range from actual perpetrators of social or political violence to more passive groups that support or condone (perhaps unwittingly) such violence. This is a shift in policy, as the Polisario traditionally confined political appointments to diaspora Sahrawis, for fear of infiltration and difficulties in communicating with Sahrawis in the Moroccan-controlled territories. The pro-independence Polisario Front said Monday that conflict in the Western Sahara would end once Morocco stops its "occupation" of the disputed territory, as the UN said the two sides had exchanged fire.. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was established by the Polisario Front as a government-in-exile. The Polisario Front’s classification. Valuable contributions also come from the strong Spanish solidarity organizations. Intelligence reports have confirmed that al-Qaeda has established links with Latin cartels for 'drugs-for-arms' smuggling through terrorist-trafficking networks that include members of the Polisario Front" in Algeria. Morocco was firmly entrenched in the US camp, whereas Algeria aligned generally with the Soviet Union during the 1970s, and took a more independent "third-worldist" position after that. Ties with Fretilin of East Timor (occupied by Indonesia in 1975) were exceptionally strong and remain so after that country's independence; both Polisario and Fretilin have argued that there are numerous historical parallels between the two conflicts. TRAC is in no way attempting to determine whether groups or individuals are terrorists -- only to convey reported information about their activities and official State status. This followed protests calling for expanding the internal democracy of the movement, and also led to important shifts of personnel in the top tiers of both Polisario and SADR. We will see what became of it later in this report. Twelve of these are secret delegates from the Moroccan-controlled areas of Western Sahara. However, after the construction of the Moroccan Wall this changed into tactics more resembling conventional warfare, with a focus on artillery, snipers and other long-range attacks. This was mainly because both sides tried to avoid overt involvement, which would necessitate a crash in relations with either Morocco or Algeria – the major North African players – and because neither viewed it as an important front. Proceedings international scientific conference strategies XXI the complex and dynamic nature of the security environment, November 27-28, 2018, 2018 While TRAC attempts to ensure the accuracy of its TRAC database, the entries in the database are from numerous different sources. Copyright © 2021 TRAC - All rights reserved. [17], One of the most innovative tactics of the SPLA was its early and extensive use of Land Rovers and other re-modeled civilian vehicles, mounting anti-aircraft machine guns (as ZPU-2 or ZU-23) or anti-tank missiles, (as the AT-3 Sagger) and using them in great numbers, to overwhelm unprepared garrisoned outposts in rapid surprise strikes. But after the movement took on the role as a state-in-waiting in 1975, based in the refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, this structure proved incapable of dealing with its vastly expanded responsibilities. Numerous attempts to restart the process (most significantly the launching of the 2003 Baker Plan) seem to have failed. [13] I spoke privately with his brother, who works in a Polisario camp. Hence, TRAC cannot and does not warrant the accuracy of the entries in its database. The Polisario Front is a rebel group representing the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. research centers, as well as interviews with witnesses to the changes in the Polisario and actors in regional security issues within North Africa. TRAC is a subscription-based service. Mauritania withdrew all its forces, and later formally recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, causing a massive rupture in relations with Morocco. The Secretary General is elected by the General Popular Congress (GPC), regularly convened every four years. Polisario Front, politico-military organization in Western Sahara seeking independence. Consequently, it made few attempts at a division of powers, instead concentrating most of the decision-making power in the top echelons of Polisario for maximum battlefield efficiency. In 1976, the situation was further complicated by the Sahrawi Republic assuming functions of government in the camps and Polisario-held territories of Western Sahara. The modern SPLA is equipped mainly with outdated Russian-manufactured weaponry, donated by Algeria. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK THIS CONTENTYou are currently only seeing 1% of the 10,000-plus pieces of expert insights and analyses available with a TRAC subscription. [16] Its commander-in-chief was the Secretary General of the Polisario, but the army is now also integrated into the SADR government through the SADR Minister of Defence. It has a potential manpower of many times that number, since both male and female refugees in the Tindouf camps undergo military training at age 18. All residents of the camps have a vote in the Popular Congresses, and participate in the administrative work in the camp through base-level 11-person cells, which form the smallest unit of the refugee camp political structure. The editors of TRAC may modify these entries at any time and welcome comments and suggested corrections or additions. It describes its struggle as a "clean war of national liberation". The series of protests and riots in 2005 by Sahrawis in "the occupied territories" received strong vocal support from Polisario as a new pressure point on Morocco. A ceasefire between the Polisario Front and Morocco, monitored by MINURSO (UN), has been in effect since 6 September 1991, on the promise of a referendum on independence the following year. The Polisario Front has denounced terrorism and attacks against civilians,[12] and sent condolences to Morocco after the 2003 Casablanca bombings. Intelligence reports have confirmed that al-Qaeda has established links with Latin cartels for 'drugs-for-arms' smuggling through terrorist-trafficking networks that include members of the Polisario Front" in Algeria. TRAC is a unique, comprehensive resource for the study of political violence of all kinds. Please write [email protected] or hit the "SUBMIT ADDITIONS" button on the page of the group profile about which you wish to comment. [citation needed] The reorganized army was able to inflict severe damage through guerrilla-style hit-and-run attacks against opposing forces in Western Sahara and in Morocco and Mauritania proper. Four rounds were held in 2007 and 2008; no progress was made, however, as both parties refused to compromise about what they considered core sovereignty issues. When it originally began the anti-Spanish rebellion, Polisario was forced to capture its weapons individually, and transport them only by foot or camel. Abdelaziz characterized them as a substitute path for the armed struggle, and indicated that if peaceful protest was squashed, in its view, without a referendum forthcoming, its armed forces would intervene. [citation needed] On 20 May, the new organization attacked El-Khanga,[7] where there was a Spanish post manned by a team of Tropas Nomadas (Sahrawi-staffed auxiliary forces), which was overrun and rifles seized. It has stated that ideological disputes should be left for a future democratic Western Sahara to deal with. [citation needed] Women formed auxiliary units protecting the camps during war years. READ MORE How AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel was killed in Mali In view of the dangerous nature of these organisations, regional security cooperation is necessary to eliminate the threat. On Oct. 30 Morocco’s Interior Ministry announced its capture of a supposedly al Qaeda-linked terrorist cell, the "Saharawi Jihad Front," headed by a Polisario supporter. In both phases of the war, SPLA units relied on superior knowledge of the terrain, speed and surprise, and on the ability to retain experienced fighters. From the mid-1980s Morocco largely managed to keep Polisario troops off by building a huge berm or sand wall (the Moroccan Wall), staffed by an army, enclosing within it the economically useful parts of Western Sahara (Bou Craa, El-Aaiun, Smara, etc. Despite this, Polisario never received counter-support from the Soviet Union (or the People's Republic of China, the third and junior player in the Cold War). The Polisario is practically dependent on its bases and refugee camps, located on Algerian soil. [citation needed] However, the referendum stalled over disagreements on voter rights. Some groups that originally engaged in violence but have since become legitimate political parties are included to provide historical perspective. If you choose to subscribe at the end of the trial, the trial cost will be deducted from the price of your subscription. The Sahrawi People's Liberation Army, (SPLA; also romanized as Saharawi; often abbreviated as ELPS or ELP from the Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Popular Saharaui), is the SADR's army and previously served as the armed wing of the Polisario prior to the foundation of the Republic. In contrast, Polisario-Mauritanian relations following a peace treaty in 1979 and the recognition of the SADR by Mauritania in 1984, with the latter's retreat from Western Sahara, have been quiet and generally neutral without reports of armed clashes from either side. Polisario Front - Morocco, also known as Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro, Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro is an active group formed c. 1973. It calls for reforms in the movement, as well as resumption of hostilities with Morocco. [2], The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and maintains that the Sahrawis have a right to self-determination. 1.2. [citation needed], Algeria has shown an unconditional support for the Polisario Front since 1975, delivering arms, training, financial aid, and food, without interruption for more than 30 years. This made the Polisario almost wholly dependent mainly on Algeria and Libya and some African and Latin American third world countries for political support, plus some NGOs from European countries (Sweden, Norway, Spain, etc.) In 1976, Algeria called the Moroccan takeover of Western Sahara a "'slow murderous' invasion against spirited fighting by Sahara guerrillas. [citation needed], The Polisario Front was formally constituted on 10 May 1973 at Ain Bentili by several Sahrawi university students, survivors of the 1968 massacres at Zouerate and some Sahrawi men who had served in the Spanish Army. The GPC is composed of delegates from the Popular Congresses of the refugee camps in Tindouf, which are held biannually in each camp, and of delegates from the women's organization (UNMS), youth organization (UJSARIO), workers' organization (UGTSARIO) and military delegates from the SPLA (see below). Paris, March 11 (TNA) More than 100 separatists from the Polisario front are active within Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, warned Cherkaoui Habboub, Director of the Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), in an interview with Jeune Afrique magazine. Most of the Arab world had supported Morocco; only Algeria and Libya have, at different times, given any significant support to Polisario. The Polisario Front is a separatist group based in desert camps near Tindouf, Algeria. The area of Western Sahara evacuated by Mauritania (Tiris al-Gharbiya, roughly corresponding to the southern half of Río de Oro), was annexed by Morocco in August 1979.[10]. But the insurgents multiplied their arsenal and military sophistication after striking an alliance with Algeria in 1975. LONDON - More than 100 separatists from the Algeria-backed Polisario Front are active within Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), warned Morocco’s new head of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), in an interview with Jeune Afrique magazine. In 2004, an anti-ceasefire and anti-Abdelaziz opposition fraction, the Front Polisario Khat al-Shahid announced its existence, in the first break with the principle of "national unity" (i.e., working in one single organization to prevent internal conflict). [6], After attempting in vain to gain backing from several Arab governments, including both Algeria and Morocco, but only drawing faint notices of support from Libya and Mauritania, the movement eventually relocated to Spanish-controlled Spanish Sahara to start an armed rebellion. Polisario Front has to fight now an added problem that the Moroccan drug trafficking represents for them and that is a factor of major instability in the region. Signup for our mailing list to receive a free incident report from TRAC. [8] With Algeria's help, Polisario set up headquarters in Tindouf. Iran recognized the SADR in 1980, Mauritania had recognized the SADR in 1984, and Syria and South Yemen had supported the Polisario position on the conflict when they were all members of the Front of Refusal. We present an overview of changes in terrorism in the region, as well as a study of the signs illustrating connections between the Front and AQIM. While Sahrawis' right to wage an armed struggle against Morocco, and has helped to equip the SPLA, the government also seems to have barred Polisario from returning to armed struggle after 1991, attempting to curry favor from the US and France and to avoid inflaming its already poor relations with Morocco.[24]. In 2004, South Africa announced formal recognition of the SADR, delayed for ten years despite unequivocal promises by Nelson Mandela as apartheid fell. [7], Its first Secretary General was El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed. Terrorist organization or Liberation Movement? Today Polisario controls the part of the Western Sahara on the east of the Moroccan Wall. There is no formal membership of Polisario; instead, anyone who participates in its work or lives in the refugee camps is considered a member. However, the Sahrawi republic's constitution gives a hint of the movement's ideological context: in the early 1970s, Polisario adopted a vaguely socialist rhetoric, in line with most national liberation movements of the time, but this was eventually abandoned in favor of a non-politicized Sahrawi nationalism. The SPLA's armed units are considered to have a manpower of possibly 6000–7000 active soldiers today, but during the war years its strength appears to have been significantly higher: up to 20,000 men. The Polisario Front has denounced terrorism and attacks against civilians, and sent condolences to Morocco after the 2003 Casablanca bombings. Foreign minister critical response to the supposed independent ESISC's report, Michael Palin's visit to Smara Refugee Camp, The self determination process of the former Spanish Sahara, Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), International Falcon Movement – Socialist Educational International, International League of Religious Socialists, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polisario_Front&oldid=1017616549, Organisations based in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Politics of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Articles lacking reliable references from August 2014, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from September 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2021, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2010, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 April 2021, at 19:18. It began as an insurgency against Spanish control and later fought against Moroccan control. [citation needed], The 30-year cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario Front was broken in November 2020 as the government tried to open a road in the Guerguerat buffer zone near the border with Mauritania. It meets the criteria for being designated as a terrorist organization under the US and international laws. Some of them are now actively promoting Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which Morocco considers its Southern Provinces. Since 1989, when the ceasefire was first concluded, the movement has stated it will pursue its goal of Western Sahara's independence by peaceful means as long as Morocco complies with the ceasefire conditions, which include arranging a referendum on independence, while reserving the right to resume armed struggle if terms are objectively breached, for example, if the referendum is not conducted. "It has been also established that there is supervision in the Tindouf camps and indoctrination provided by the imams in the camps. Today, the Polisario has built ties to Al Qaeda and is suspected to be involved in a variety of heinous crime rings, including narco-terrorism, kidnapping, and hijacking. the two organisations illustrate the proximity between the Polisario Front and the Islamist terrorist groups. A more comprehensive merger of these different organizational patterns (military organization/refugee camps/SADR) was not achieved until the 1991 congress, when both the Polisario and SADR organizations were overhauled, integrated into the camp structure and further separated from each other. Today 45 countries around the world recognize the legitimacy of the Polisario over Western Sahara. The SADR and Polisario institutions often overlapped, and their division of power was often hard to ascertain. Mauritania also attempts to avoid involvement and to balance between Morocco and Polisario's backers in Algeria, although it formally recognizes the SADR as Western Sahara's government since 1984 and has a substantial Sahrawi refugee population (around 30,000) on its territory. )[citation needed] This stalemated the war, with no side able to achieve decisive gains, but artillery strikes and sniping attacks by the Polisario continued, and Morocco was economically and politically strained by the war. On November 14, the Polisario Front declared war on Morocco, ending a fragile ceasefire that has been in place since 1991. Surface-to-air missiles (anti-aircraft missiles, as SA-6s, SA-7s, SA-8s and SA-9s) have downed several Moroccan F-5 fighter jets, and helped compensate for the complete Moroccan control of the skies. Japan Classifies the Polisario as a Terrorist Movement The Public Security Intelligence agency, which is Japan’s national Intelligence Agency, has once again classified the separatist Polisario front as a terrorist organization. [11], The Polisario is first and foremost a nationalist organization, whose main goal is the independence of Western Sahara. It describes its struggle as a "clean war of national liberation". [14] At the level of international relations, Algeria appears as a main actor and negotiator in opposition to Morocco since the beginning of the Western Sahara conflict. Between congresses, the supreme decision-making body is the National Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General. Originally established as a Marxist rebel movement aiming to take control of the Western Sahara, the Polisario Front over the past decades turned into a terror- and instability promoting force in the region. 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