Polisario holds leadership poll under shadow of Morocco-Algeria tensions
The Polisario movement, which seeks independence in disputed Western Sahara, started meeting for leadership elections in the shadow of mounting tensions between host Algeria and Morocco, which controls most of the territory.
More than 2,200 members of the movement and 370 foreign guests are attending the five-day congress deep in Algeria's desert, at a Sahrawi refugee camp named after Dakhla, an Atlantic port city in what is Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.
The Polisario's current head Brahim Ghali, 73, appears to enjoy the vital backing of Algeria and is expected to be re-elected at the gathering, which comes at a critical time for the movement.
It's the first congress since the armed struggle resumed.
The conflict dates back to 1975, when colonial occupier Spain withdrew from Western Sahara, sparking a 15-year war between the Polisario and Morocco for control of the territory.
That ended in a 1991 ceasefire deal with the North African kingdom in control of 80 percent of the resource-rich desert territory and the Polisario clinging to hopes of a UN-supervised referendum on independence provided for in the deal.
The referendum has never taken place.
Since late 2020, the Polisario says it has been in "a war of legitimate defence" and has declared the entire Western Sahara, including its land, sea and airspace, a "war zone".
