According to Mohammed Abou El Kassem Zway, Libya's former leader admitted he was wrong to promote the creation of the Polisario entity

A former Libyan official says Gaddafi was involved in the founding of the Polisario Front

PHOTO/REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra - Gaddafi during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of his accession to power in Tripoli, September 1, 2011

Raúl Redondo

02 de octubre de 2023 (10:49 h.)

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Mohammed Abou El Kassem Zway, a former senior Libyan official, has said, according to a report by Alyoum and Al-Arabiya, that Muammar Gaddafi was allegedly behind the founding of the Polisario Front, an armed separatist militia that calls for a referendum on independence for the Sahrawi people, which threatens the regional integrity of Morocco, which claims Western Sahara as part of its southern provinces.

According to Alyoum media, which refers to a television interview with Al-Arabiya, the former Libyan official reportedly admitted that former dictator Gaddafi allegedly founded the Polisario Front and that he may have admitted his mistake "too late".

Furthermore, El Kassem Zway reportedly indicated that Muammar Gaddafi was also allegedly the instigator of the creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and not the Polisario Front. SADR is an entity that is not recognised as a state by many countries and is at odds with Morocco in the ongoing Sahrawi dispute, which poses a threat to Morocco's territorial integrity over the disputed Western Sahara.

AFP/FADEL SENNA - North Africa is witnessing dangerous Iranian moves that could blow up the situation in the region, especially with the Revolutionary Guards continuing to provide advance marches to the Polisario Front, threatening stability around the Moroccan Sahara

One of SADR and the Polisario Front's staunchest allies is Algeria, Morocco's bitter rival in the Maghreb, with which it broke off diplomatic relations in August 2021 after accusing the Moroccan kingdom of "hostile acts", a situation that continues despite the fact that King Mohammed VI has on numerous occasions reached out to his Algerian neighbour to redirect ties between the two countries along the path of good mutual cooperation.

In the television interview with Al-Arabiya, Zway reportedly indicated that Algeria did not agree in principle with this political movement allegedly promoted by Gaddafi, indicating that the aim was to "embarrass the King of Morocco".

According to these reports, former Polisario Front leader Mustafa al-Sayed was not a separatist and indicated that the establishment of the Sahrawi Republic was not even in the plans, but that Gaddafi was the "master of the idea".

AFP/FADEL SENNA - Border checkpoint between Morocco and Mauritania at Guerguerat in Western Sahara

The former Zway official noted in principle that Gaddafi had belatedly admitted that it was a mistake to establish the Polisario Front, which was aimed at embarrassing King Hassan II, the father of Mohammed VI, in response to what he saw as the Moroccan king's support for the Libyan opposition trying to break away from the authoritarian government established by Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

This revelation would represent a further destabilising element in North Africa by politically pitting two countries, Morocco and Libya, against each other, adding to the clash between the Moroccan kingdom and Algeria, an ally of the Polisario Front, over the dispute over Western Sahara.

A confrontation over the Saharawi territory in which Morocco currently has the upper hand after having received many important international backers for its proposed resolution of the problem, which is based on broad autonomy for the Saharawi territory under Moroccan sovereignty, respecting UN resolutions.