The Polisario continues to crack and the advent of a new dissident movement within the front is another sign of the distrust currently facing Brahim Ghali. He is actually decried by an ever-growing number of Sahrawis, not only among the Tindouf camps population, but also by members of the Algeria-backed separatist movement.
It is precisely the Polisario leaders’ blind alignment on the Algerian agenda that raises criticism of the Sahrawis.
The new dissident movement, “The Sahrawi Initiative for Change”, is led by well-known Polisario figures.
One of the movement founders is Lhaj Ahmed Barkallah, who had assumed several responsibilities within the Front. He is the brother of Ahmed Boukhari, Polisario representative at the UN. There is also Oulad Moussa, cousin of M’hamad Khadad, the Polisario coordinator with the Minurso, in addition to Hdih Abbiha, the brother of one of the apparatchiks of the separatist front.
According to a well-informed source in the Tindouf camps, the founders of the Sahrawi Initiative for Change took care to hide the purpose of their project so as not to anger the Algerian generals.
Behind the claims for more transparency in the camps management, in view of the widespread corruption and the scandals of diversion of international humanitarian aid, a more political agenda related to the Sahara issue is emerging.
According to the same source, in a second stage, the movement will claim a greater autonomy vis-à-vis Algeria, whose senior brass hold the camps population hostage to serve their own strategy, while the Polisario leaders have no interest in putting an end to the Sahara conflict, which is particularly lucrative for them.
