El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed

Who is El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed?

El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed was a Sahrawi political leader who founded the Polisario Front (Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro) in 1973 as a movement for the independence of Western Sahara, then a Spanish colonial territory. He became the Front's first Secretary-General and led its early campaign of political organizing and armed struggle against Spanish colonial rule. When Spain withdrew from the territory in 1975 and Western Sahara was subsequently claimed by both Morocco and Mauritania, El-Ouali proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) on 27 February 1976 and became its first President, while continuing to lead the Polisario Front's military and diplomatic efforts. He was killed in June 1976, only months into his presidency, during a Polisario raid on the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. Despite his short life, he is regarded as the founding father of the modern Sahrawi independence movement, and streets, camps, and institutions across the Sahrawi refugee community near Tindouf, Algeria, are named in his honor.

Sources: Hodges, Tony, "Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War" (Lawrence Hill Books, 1983) · Shelley, Toby, "Endgame in the Western Sahara" (Zed Books, 2004) · United Nations, Western Sahara historical background documentation (MINURSO)