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ALGIERS. — Mohamed Abdelaziz, the secretary general of the Polisario Front, a movement fighting for independence of the largely desert region of Western Sahara, has died.
Abdelaziz, in his late sixties, died on Tuesday afternoon after a long battle with illness, the official website of the separatist movement said.
The movement ordered a 40-day mourning period, after which a new secretary-general will be chosen, it added.
“This is a great loss for the Sahrawi people,” Polisario Front official Mohammed Keddad told the AFP news agency. “He sacrificed his life for the liberation of Western Sahara.
“He embodied the wisdom and a sincere and firm commitment to its liberation,” he added.
Khatri Abdouh, the head of the Saharawi National Council and a long-time aide of Abdelaziz, was appointed as interim Polisario Front leader.
Abdelaziz had led the Polisario Front since 1976, three years after the group was founded to fight for independence for the former Spanish colony.
Samir Bennis, the editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Morocco World News, told Al Jazeera that Abdelaziz’s death would have little impact on attempts to end the conflict. “Abdelaziz’s death will not change anything between Morocco and Algeria, what might bring change is what happens next in Algeria,” Bennis said.
Morocco has controlled most of Western Sahara since 1975 and claims sovereignty over the sparsely populated stretch of desert to its south, which has offshore fishing and phosphate reserves.
Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara prompted an armed struggle by the Polisario Front backed by Morocco’s neighbour, Algeria.
Tens of thousands of Sahrawi civilians were forcibly expelled by the Moroccan government, and the Polisario Front’s leadership was forced into exile in Algeria.
The UN brokered a ceasefire in 1991, but talks to resolve the 41-year dispute have so far failed to yield a breakthrough.
Senia Bachir, a Sahrawi activist told Al Jazeera that the Polisario Front would continue its fight for self-determination and independence following Abdelaziz’s death.
“It’s been over 40 years of struggle to attain this fundamental right and the Polisario Front, now more than ever, will continue to champion that cause until the complete liberation of our country, Western Sahara,” she said.
The Polisario Front has been demanding a referendum offering full independence, while Morocco has so far only been willing to offer limited autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Algerian president Bouteflika said that the Sahrawi people have lost with the death of their president, Mohamed Abdelaziz, a courageous activist who “made peace a strategic principle and a major goal,” saying he is saddened that deceased died before his country has recovered freedom and independence.
“It is a great misfortune that has struck the brotherly Sahrawi people and all the men who love freedom and peace in the world by the death of combatant and activist Mohamed Abdelaziz, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic,” wrote Bouteflika in a message of condolences to the Speaker of the Sahrawi National Council Khatri Eddouh, following the death of Sahrawi President.
The Ambassador of the Sahrawi Republic to Zimbabwe Mohamed Cheij Saleh Ali in a statement said, “I have received with great sadness the news of the death of our president and our leader, His Excellency Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, President of the Republic and Secretary General of the Polisario Front. And I regret his departure from us and we have lost the wise leadership which have remained accompanying us throughout his life.
“I present my sincere condolences to myself, my staff and to all the Sahrawi people and all our friends. The hero Mohamed Abdel-Aziz dedicated himself to serving the national cause. He was the gallant fighter, the faithful humble leader. On this occasion, I extend my thanks to the President, the Government and people of the Republic of Zimbabwe for their consistent support to the legitimate struggle waged by the Sahrawi people for freedom and independence. And especially, I thank His Excellency President Robert Mugabe, that we never forget his courage and strong position in the defence of the Sahrawi cause. The two presidents fought together for the freedom and dignity of the peoples of Africa,” said Ambassador Ali.
United Nations Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon said in statement, “I learned with sadness the death today of Mohamed Abdelaziz, who served as Secretary-General of the Frente Polisario beginning in 1976.
“Over the years, Mr Mohamed Abdelaziz was a central figure in the search for a resolution of the Western Sahara conflict. In this capacity, he met with numerous United Nations officials, including successive Secretaries-Generals, most recently in March, during the Secretary-General’s visit to the Western Saharan refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria.
“The Secretary-General offers his condolences to Mr Mohamed Abdelaziz’s family and to the Frente Polisario as they mourn his untimely loss. He looks forward to continuing to work to help the parties to achieve a mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”, said the statement from Mr Ban.
The European Parliament’s Intergroup “Peace for the Sahrawi people” expressed Tuesday its solidarity with the Saharawi people following the death of its president Mohamed Abdelaziz, and committed to pursuing struggle for the self-determination referendum in Western Sahara.
“We express our solidarity, in this difficult time, with the Sahrawi people and its legitimate representative, the Polisario Front,” the European Parliament’s Intergroup affirmed in a condolence message, signed by its chairperson Norbert Neuser.
South African President Zuma also conveyed his sincerest condolences to the wife of President Abdelaziz and his family during this difficult time. — SPS/Al Jazeera/HR.
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