Mohamed Abdelaziz

For the Mauritanian president, see Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. For the Algerian footballer, see Mohamed Abdelaziz Tchikou.

Mohamed Abdelaziz محمد عبد العزيز
President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 August 1976
Prime Minister	Mohamed Lamine Ould Ahmed Mahfoud Ali Beiba Mohamed Lamine Ould Ahmed Mahfoud Ali Beiba Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun Mahfoud Ali Beiba Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun Abdelkader Taleb Oumar
Preceded by	Mahfoud Ali Beiba
Personal details
Born	August 17, 1947(1947-08-17) or 1948 Marrakesh, Morocco or Smara, Spanish Sahara
Political party	POLISARIO
Spouse(s)	Jadiya Hamdi
Residence	"Rabuni", Sahrawi refugee camps, Tindouf,  Algeria
Alma mater	Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
Religion	Sunni Islam

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Constitution Sahrawi nationality law President Mohamed Abdelaziz Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Omar National Council Speaker Kathri Aduh Political parties Polisario Front Elections: 2008 Foreign relations List of diplomatic missions of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic List of diplomatic missions to the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Free Zone

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view · talk · edit

Mohamed Abdelaziz (Arabic: محمد عبد العزيز‎; born August 17, 1947 or 1948) is the 3rd and current Secretary General of the Polisario Front and President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since 1976. He speaks Arabic and French.^[1]

Biography

Abdelaziz was born in Marrakesh, Morocco^[2][1][3][4] or in Smara, Spanish Sahara^{[5][unreliable source?][6][unreliable source?][7][unreliable source?]} comes from a Sahrawi family of an eastern Reguibat subtribe, migrating between Western Sahara, Mauritania, western Algeria and southern Morocco. He is the son of "Khlili Ben Mohamed Al-Bachir Rguibi"; who was a member of the Moroccan Liberation Army and the Royal Moroccan Army. ^{[8] [9]} Abdelaziz's father lives in Morocco with a part of his family and has always supported Moroccan claims on Western Sahara^[9][8] and is a member of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs. When Abdelaziz was asked during an interview about his father's position he said: "Everybody has the right to have his own opinions"^[10]

As a student in the Mohammed V University of Rabat,^[8] he gravitated towards Sahrawi nationalism, and became one of the founding members^{[citation needed]} of the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi independence movement in Western Sahara with strong Arab socialist ideas which launched a few attacks against Spanish colonialism in the Spanish Sahara in 1973; but that is more notable for fighting against Mauritania and Morocco

Since 1976 he is Secretary-General of the organization, replacing Mahfoud Ali Beiba, who had taken the post as interim Secretary-General after El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed was killed in action in Mauritania. Since that time he is also the president of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), whose first constitution he was involved in drafting^{[citation needed]}. He lives in exile in the Sahrawi refugee camps in the Tindouf Province of western Algeria.

His brother is Mohamed Lahbib Erguibi,^[11] lawyer of many Sahrawi human rights defenders as Aminatou Haidar or Naama Asfari, and former "disappeared" in Moroccan prisons between 1976 and 1991.^[12][13]

According to former members of Polisario now aligned with Morocco, Abdelaziz was "chosen" by Algeria at the top of the organization although he did not belong to the very closed circle of the organization's founders and "he always considered himself to be their man.".^[14] However, these testimonies were collected by ESISC, a Brussels-based commercial firm in the domain of counselling, including among its clients the Moroccan embassy in Belgium. A Moroccan newspaper that underlined the ties between ESISC and the Moroccan regime, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, was fined by a Moroccan court and finally had to close down.^[15] The press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described the trial as "politically motivated and unfair".^[16]

Political profile

He is considered a secular nationalist^[17] and has steered the Polisario and the Sahrawi republic towards political compromise, notably in backing the United Nations' Baker Plan in 2003. Under his leadership, Polisario also abandoned its early Arab socialist orientation^{[citation needed]}, in favor of a Western Sahara organized along liberal democratic lines^{[citation needed]}. He is, however, the 3^rd longest ruling non-royal leader as he has been president of Sahrawi Republic for nearly 35 years. He has consistently sought backing from Western states, notably the European Union (especially Spain) and the United States of America, but so far with little success.

The Organization of African Unity seated Western Sahara for the first time in 1982, despite Morocco's vehement objections. In 1985, Abdelaziz was elected as Vice-President of the OAU at its 21st summit, effectively signalling that the Sahrawi Repbulic would be a permanent OAU member despite the controversy.^[18] In 2002, he was elected as vice-president of the African Union, at its first summit.^{[citation needed]}

There is some criticism against him from within the Polisario for preventing reforms inside the movement^{[citation needed]}, and for insisting on a diplomatic course that has so far gained few concessions from Morocco, rather than re-launching the armed struggle favored by many within the movement. The only, supposedly opposition group, is the Front Polisario Khat al-Shahid, which states that it wants to restore the legacy of his predecessor, El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed^{[citation needed]}. Abdelaziz, specifically denied the existence of such a group;^[10] he maintains that only the Polisario exists in the camps. Others^[who?] consider that, despite his militant rhetoric, Abdelaziz cannot order a resumption of fighting without the approval of the Algerian government^{[citation needed]}.

Abdelaziz has condemned terrorism, insisting the Polisario's guerrilla war is to be a "clean struggle" (that is, not targeting private citizens' safety or property); he however acknowledged mistreatment to Moroccan prisoners of war as well as attacking civilian populations in Moroccan cities^[10] by the polisario, justifying this as necessary evils in times of war and that the Polisario had to use every mean in order to defend the Sahrawi population from the enemy^[10].

He sent formal condolences to the afflicted governments after the terrorist attacks in New York City,^{[19][unreliable source?]} Madrid,^[20] London,^[21] Kampala^[22]

Also, as head of the SADR, he has signed the OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism at the 36th summit in Algiers, July 14, 1999,^[23] the Dakar Declaration against Terrorism in October 2001 & the additional Protocol to the previous OAU's Convention on Terrorism at the 3rd session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, July 8, 2004.^[24]

Awards and nominations

In 2001, he was reportedly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize^[25][26]

In December 2005, as leader of the Polisario Front, he received the Human Rights International Prize, given by the Spanish Pro-Human Rights Association.^[27]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Pierret, Alain (2010). De la case africaine à la villa romaine: un demi-siècle au service de l'état. Harmattan. pp. 174. ISBN 978-2-296-11585-9. 
2. ^ Hughes, Stephen O. Morocco Under King Hassan, 2001. Page 247.
3. ^ Al Hiwar Channel. "بوضوح: حركة البوليساريو". AlHiwar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWBSVYddnZM. Retrieved 26 August 2011. 
4. ^ "African concord, Volumes 2-3". Concord Press of Nigeria: page 6. 1989. 
5. ^ Mohamed Abdelaziz: «El Sáhara no puede ser moneda de cambio entre España y Marruecos» (Spanish)
6. ^ "El pueblo nos pide volver a la guerra, pero creemos que con el apoyo internacional la solución pacífica es posible" (Spanish)
7. ^ "Esperamos que la comunidad internacional presione a Marruecos para recuperar nuestro derecho de autodeterminación" (Spanish)
8. ^ ^{a b c} MAP (05/01/2002). "Le père du dénommé Mohamed Abdelaziz: "en cas de référendum, je voterai pour la marocanité du Sahara"". Le matin. http://www.lematin.ma/Actualite/Express/ArticlePrint.asp?id=11546. Retrieved 26 August 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Gazette du Maroc (24/10/2005). "De Rguibi Khalili à son fils Abdelaziz ...". Gazette du Maroc. http://www.lagazettedumaroc.com/articles.php?id_artl=7773. Retrieved 26 August 2011. 
10. ^ ^{a b c d} Ahmed R. Benchemsi and Mehdi Sekkouri Alaoui. "Au cœur du polisario". Telquel. http://www.telquel-online.com/329/couverture_329.shtml. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
11. ^ "Aminetu Haidar reaparece en un tenso juicio en Casablanca". ABC. 15-10-2010. http://www.abc.es/20101015/internacional/aminatu-haidar-reaparece-juicio-201010151853.html. Retrieved 19-10-2010.  (Spanish)
12. ^ Rapport de Mission d’observateurs au proces en appel de Ennaama Asfari et de la Mission d’enquete qui s’est deroulee du 6 au 9 Mai 2007 dans les Territoires Occupes (Laayoune et Smara) pour l’Association franÇaise «Droit Solidarite» et l’Association Internationale des Juristes Democrates (French)
13. ^ "En las mazmorras de Hassan". Interviú. 19-11-2007. http://www.interviu.es/reportajes/articulos/en-las-mazmorras-de-hasan/. Retrieved 19-10-2010.  (Spanish)
14. ^ The Polisario Front – Credibles Negotiation Partner or After-Effect of the Coldwar and Obstacle to a Political Solution in Western Sahara?
15. ^ http://www.liberation.fr/monde/0101617009-au-maroc-le-journal-hebdomadaire-jette-l-eponge
16. ^ [1]
17. ^ http://www.issafrica.org/index.php?link_id=14&slink_id=5316&link_type=12&slink_type=12&tmpl_id=3
18. ^ Stefan Talmon, Recognition of Governments in International Law (1998), Oxford University Press, page 187.
19. ^ The Polisario Front National Secretariat's Bureau, meeting under the chairmanship of Mohamed Abdelaziz, head of state and secretary-general of the Polisario Front, condemned the criminal attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the USA and, particularly, against defenceless innocent civilians. It expressed the Saharan people's solidarity with the people of the USA and their government.(Sahrawi national radio) ARSO, September 12, 2001
20. ^ The President of the Republic presents his condolences to the King of Spain and the Head of the Government after terrorist attacks in Madrid SPS, March 11, 2004
21. ^ The President of the Republic expresses Saharawi people's condolences to British people SPS, July 7, 2005
22. ^ President of Republic consoles his Ugandan counterpart on victims of Kampala bomb attacks SPS, July 14, 2010
23. ^ OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism
24. ^ Protocol to the OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism
25. ^ Latest developments on Western Sahara - Defense Forum Foundation, Congressional defense & Foreign Policy Forum. Capitol hill, Washington D.C., March 26, 2004.
26. ^ Cynthia Basinet - Bio
27. ^ APDHE - Memoria de actividades 2005 (In Spanish)

Related links

• Mohamed Abdelaziz: Carta abierta al rey de Marruecos (1999) (Spanish)
• President of the SADR photo gallery

Persondata
Name	Abdelaziz, Mohamed
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 17, 1947
Place of birth	Marrakesh, French Morocco or Smara, Spanish Sahara
Date of death
Place of death