El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed
Encyclopedia
El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed (also known as El Uali, El-Wali, Luali or Lulei) was a Sahrawi nationalist
leader, co-founder and second Secretary-General of the Polisario Front
, & also the first President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
.
encampment somewhere on the hammada desert plains in eastern Western Sahara
or northern Mauritania
; some sources give his place of birth as Bir Lehlou
, a location that is symbolic for Polisario, for being the place of the proclamation of the SADR
. His parents were poor and his father handicapped, and with the sum of the severe drought on the Sahara
that years, and the consequences of the Ifni War
, the family had to abandon the traditional bedouin
lifestyle of the Sahrawis, settling near Tan-Tan
(nowadays southern Morocco
) at the late 1950s. Some sources stated that Ouali's family was deported among others to Morocco by Spanish authorities in 1960.
He went to primary school in Tan-Tan, and then to the Islamic Institute in Taroudant
with impressive results, being awarded scholarships to attend university in Rabat
. There he studied Laws & Political sciences, and met other young members of the Sahrawi diaspora
, who like him were affected by the radicalism sweeping Moroccan universities in the early 1970s (heavily influenced by May 1968 in France). He travelled to Europe
for the only time in his life about this time, visiting Amsterdam
in the Netherlands
& Paris
in France
.
colonial
rule over what was then known as Spanish Sahara
, and although never involved with the Harakat Tahrir
, news of the Zemla Intifada
made a deep impression on him. In 1972, he returned to Tan-Tan (former Spanish Sahara
), where he began organizing a group called the Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra
and Río de Oro
. After a Sahrawi demonstration
in Tan-Tan in June 1972, a group of 20 participants including Ouali were detained and tortured by the Moroccan police, then he met with other groups of Sahrawis from inside Western Sahara, Algeria & Mauritania, and in 1973 founded with them the Polisario Front
. Days after the Polisario's foundation, El-Ouali led a group of six poorly armed guerrillas in the May 20, 1973 El-Khanga raid, the first armed action of the Polisario Front (El-Khanga was a Spanish military post in the desert.). El-Ouali and one of his fighters were briefly captured, but they managed to escape prison as the remaining patrol headed by Brahim Gali overran the ill-prepared Spanish
troops; The Khanga strike was to be followed by similar attacks on isolated targets, in which the Polisario gathered weapons and equipment, until they were finally able to enter into full-scale guerrilla warfare
. In 1974-75 the Polisario Front slowly seized control over the desert countryside, and quickly became the most important nationalist organization in the country. By 1975 Spain had been forced to retreat into the major coastal cities, and reluctantly accepted negotiations on the surrender of power. At this point, the Polisario remained a relatively small organization of perhaps 800 fighters and activists, although supported by a vastly larger network of sympathizers.
According to Mehdi Bennouna, in Heroes Sans Gloire El-Ouali was the son of a member of the Moroccan Army of Liberation. He was member of Union National des Étudiants Marocains (UNEM), the students union in Morocco and was recruited by Mohamed Bennouna
to join the "Tanzim" (The Organisation or the Structure), an Arabic nationalist
and socialist
organization which was created overthrow the monarchy
under Hassan II and obtained support from Syria
, Libya
, and Algeria
. El-Ouali was trained in Libya and his mentor was a man named "Nemri". Bennouna claims the death of Mahmoud and Nemri, as well as the fluctuating relationship between Tanzim and Algeria led the creation of the Polisario Front
. Bennouna views this as part of the armed revolution
in Morocco and of the political dissidence against the Moroccan regime .
–Mauritania
n invasion of Western Sahara
in late 1975, and the Moroccan air raids on Sahrawi refugees columns in the desert, El-Ouali escorted them into exile in the refugee camp
s of Tindouf
, Algeria
. From there, he presided over the establishing of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
, becoming its first president. The Sahrawi republic effectively became the government of some 50,000 – 60,000 people in 1976, housed in the Tindouf refugee camps. At that point, the Polisario Front, backed by Algeria
and Libya
, reinforced a guerrilla war against Morocco and Mauritania, who had substantially larger forces and armament, mostly from French and Spanish origin. The usual tactic of the Polisario guerrillas consisted in raids
(sometimes of hundreds of km) on military objectives like Moroccan military posts on Tarfaya
, Amgala
or Guelta Zemmur
, or economic objectives, as the Bou Craa
phosphate
conveyor belt
, the Zouerat
iron mines and the Mauritania Railway
.
By all accounts, El-Ouali was intensely charismatic, and often made public speeches in the refugee camps. He frequently met with foreign journalist
s visiting the camps, acknowledging the importance of publicizing the Sahrawi struggle. He was widely respected by his compatriots for his habit of fighting at the front line with his troops, although this would ultimately prove a fatal choice.
, in which they bombarded the Presidential palace. In the retreat, pursued by Mauritanian troops, armored vehicles and aviation
, a group with Ouali separated from the principal column, going to Benichab
(about 100 km. north of Nouakchott) with the intention of exploding the water pipeline that supplied the capital. Other sources claim that the subsequent combat take place 60 km. north of Akjoujt
. They were surrounded and cornered by Mauritanian troops with Panhard AML
's and then annihilated. Ouali's body was sent to Nouackchott and buried secretly in a military terrain (in 1996, 20 years after his death, the exact place of his rests was revealed), where still lays. His position as Secretary-General was briefly assumed in an interim capacity by Mahfoud Ali Beiba
, who was then replaced by Mohammed Abdelaziz at the Polisario's III General Popular Congress in August 1976.
by the Sahrawi refugee population, and there is a simple stone monument built to his honour in the desert. The day of his death, June 9, has been declared The Day of the Martyr
s, a holiday of the republic that honors all Sahrawi victims in the war for independence.
In Mauritania, the June 9 was declared by Mokhtar Ould Daddah the day of the Mauritanian armed forces.
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
leader, co-founder and second Secretary-General of the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
, & also the first President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about...
.
Youth and background
El-Ouali was born in 1948 in a Sahrawi nomadNomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
encampment somewhere on the hammada desert plains in eastern Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
or northern Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
; some sources give his place of birth as Bir Lehlou
Bir Lehlou
Bir Lehlou is a small town in north-eastern Western Sahara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in POLISARIO-held territory. It has a dispensary and a school...
, a location that is symbolic for Polisario, for being the place of the proclamation of the SADR
Sadr
Sadr may refer to:*Gamma Cygni, a star.*Sadr City, a neighbourhood in northeastern Baghdad.*Sadr, a family name originating in Lebanon.*Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , the government-in-exile of the Polisario Front....
. His parents were poor and his father handicapped, and with the sum of the severe drought on the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
that years, and the consequences of the Ifni War
Ifni War
The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain , was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents and Sahrawi rebels that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi Ifni.The war, which may be seen as part of the general movement...
, the family had to abandon the traditional bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
lifestyle of the Sahrawis, settling near Tan-Tan
Tan-Tan
Tan-Tan is a city in Tan-Tan Province in southern Morocco. It is a desert town with a small population, with only few claims to fame:*The nearby port, Tan-Tan Plage, or Port of Tan-Tan, about 25 kilometres away from Tan-Tan itself...
(nowadays southern Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
) at the late 1950s. Some sources stated that Ouali's family was deported among others to Morocco by Spanish authorities in 1960.
He went to primary school in Tan-Tan, and then to the Islamic Institute in Taroudant
Taroudant
Taroudant is a Moroccan city located in the Sous Valley in the southern part of the country. It is situated east of Agadir on the road to Ouarzazate and the Sahara desert and south of Marrakech. It is called the "Grandmother of Marrakech" because it looks like a smaller Marrakech with its...
with impressive results, being awarded scholarships to attend university in Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
. There he studied Laws & Political sciences, and met other young members of the Sahrawi diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
, who like him were affected by the radicalism sweeping Moroccan universities in the early 1970s (heavily influenced by May 1968 in France). He travelled to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for the only time in his life about this time, visiting Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
& Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Polisario Front
El-Ouali grew increasingly disturbed by the oppressive SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
rule over what was then known as Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
, and although never involved with the Harakat Tahrir
Harakat Tahrir
The Movement for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro, sometimes referred to as the Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara or simply the Liberation Movement was created in 1969 by Muhammad Bassiri, a Smara-based Sahrawi quranic teacher, to work for the independence of Western...
, news of the Zemla Intifada
Zemla Intifada
The Zemla Intifada is the name used by the Algerian-backed Polisario movement to refer to disturbances of June 17, 1970, which culminated in a massacre by Spanish forces in the Zemla district of El-Aaiun, Western Sahara .Leaders of the hitherto secret organization Harakat Tahrir, among them its...
made a deep impression on him. In 1972, he returned to Tan-Tan (former Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
), where he began organizing a group called the Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra
Saguia el-Hamra
Saguia el-Hamra, in Arabic الساقية الحمراء, al-Saqiyah al-Hamra'a , is, with Río de Oro, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969. Its name comes from a waterway that goes through the capital....
and Río de Oro
Río de Oro
Río de Oro , is, with Saguia el-Hamra, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969; it was originally taken as a Spanish colonial possession in the late 19th century...
. After a Sahrawi demonstration
Demonstration
Demonstration may refer to:* Demonstration , a political rally or protest* Demonstration , a conclusive mathematical proof* Demonstration , a method of teaching by example rather than simple explanation...
in Tan-Tan in June 1972, a group of 20 participants including Ouali were detained and tortured by the Moroccan police, then he met with other groups of Sahrawis from inside Western Sahara, Algeria & Mauritania, and in 1973 founded with them the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
. Days after the Polisario's foundation, El-Ouali led a group of six poorly armed guerrillas in the May 20, 1973 El-Khanga raid, the first armed action of the Polisario Front (El-Khanga was a Spanish military post in the desert.). El-Ouali and one of his fighters were briefly captured, but they managed to escape prison as the remaining patrol headed by Brahim Gali overran the ill-prepared Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
troops; The Khanga strike was to be followed by similar attacks on isolated targets, in which the Polisario gathered weapons and equipment, until they were finally able to enter into full-scale guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. In 1974-75 the Polisario Front slowly seized control over the desert countryside, and quickly became the most important nationalist organization in the country. By 1975 Spain had been forced to retreat into the major coastal cities, and reluctantly accepted negotiations on the surrender of power. At this point, the Polisario remained a relatively small organization of perhaps 800 fighters and activists, although supported by a vastly larger network of sympathizers.
According to Mehdi Bennouna, in Heroes Sans Gloire El-Ouali was the son of a member of the Moroccan Army of Liberation. He was member of Union National des Étudiants Marocains (UNEM), the students union in Morocco and was recruited by Mohamed Bennouna
Mohamed Bennouna
Mohamed Bennouna is a diplomat and jurist from Morocco. He worked as a professor at the Mohammed V University, as a permanent representative of his native country at the United Nations from 1998 to 2001, as a Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
to join the "Tanzim" (The Organisation or the Structure), an Arabic nationalist
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
and socialist
Arab socialism
Arab socialism is a political ideology based on an amalgamation of Pan-Arabism and socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of socialist thought in the Arab world, which predates Arab socialism by as much as fifty years...
organization which was created overthrow the monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
under Hassan II and obtained support from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. El-Ouali was trained in Libya and his mentor was a man named "Nemri". Bennouna claims the death of Mahmoud and Nemri, as well as the fluctuating relationship between Tanzim and Algeria led the creation of the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
. Bennouna views this as part of the armed revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
in Morocco and of the political dissidence against the Moroccan regime .
Exile, presidency and war
After the joint MoroccanMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
–Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
n invasion of Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
in late 1975, and the Moroccan air raids on Sahrawi refugees columns in the desert, El-Ouali escorted them into exile in the refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
s of Tindouf
Tindouf
Tindouf is the main town in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian and Moroccan borders. The region is considered of strategic significance, and it houses Algerian military bases. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front a guerrilla...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. From there, he presided over the establishing of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about...
, becoming its first president. The Sahrawi republic effectively became the government of some 50,000 – 60,000 people in 1976, housed in the Tindouf refugee camps. At that point, the Polisario Front, backed by Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, reinforced a guerrilla war against Morocco and Mauritania, who had substantially larger forces and armament, mostly from French and Spanish origin. The usual tactic of the Polisario guerrillas consisted in raids
Raids
Raids is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France....
(sometimes of hundreds of km) on military objectives like Moroccan military posts on Tarfaya
Tarfaya
- References :CitationsBibliography* Didier Daurat, , France: Édition Dynamo, 1954....
, Amgala
Amgala
Amgala is an oasis in Western Sahara. It is situated between Tifariti, Smara and Meharrize, close to the east of the Moroccan Wall, in the POLISARIO-held part of Western Sahara.Its population was estimated in 2,000 inhabitants in 1975....
or Guelta Zemmur
Guelta Zemmur
Guelta Zemmur is a small town or village in the Moroccan-administered territory of Western Sahara.The town is based around a guelta or oasis, retaining rain water for long periods...
, or economic objectives, as the Bou Craa
Bou Craa
Bou Craa is a town in the Saguia el-Hamra region of northern Western Sahara, south and slightly east of the city of El Aaiún. It is inhabited almost entirely by employees of the Moroccan-controlled Bou Craa phosphate industry...
phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
conveyor belt
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
, the Zouerat
Zouérat
Zouérat is the largest town in northern Mauritania and is the capital of Tiris Zemmour with an approximate population of 38,000 . It lies at the eastern end of the Mauritania Railway to Nouadhibou.- Overview :...
iron mines and the Mauritania Railway
Mauritania Railway
The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. Opened in 1963, it consists of a single, railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zouerate with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum...
.
By all accounts, El-Ouali was intensely charismatic, and often made public speeches in the refugee camps. He frequently met with foreign journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s visiting the camps, acknowledging the importance of publicizing the Sahrawi struggle. He was widely respected by his compatriots for his habit of fighting at the front line with his troops, although this would ultimately prove a fatal choice.
Death in combat
On June 9, 1976 El-Ouali was killed by a shrapnel piece through the head returning from a major Polisario raid on the Mauritanian capital, NouakchottNouakchott
-Government:The town was first divided into districts in 1973. First it was divided into four. From 1986, the city has been split into nine districts.* Arafat* Dar Naim* El Mina* Ksar* Riad* Sebkha* Tevragh-Zeina* Teyarett* Toujounine...
, in which they bombarded the Presidential palace. In the retreat, pursued by Mauritanian troops, armored vehicles and aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
, a group with Ouali separated from the principal column, going to Benichab
Benichab
Benichab is a town and urban commune in the Inchiri Region of southern-central Mauritania.-References:...
(about 100 km. north of Nouakchott) with the intention of exploding the water pipeline that supplied the capital. Other sources claim that the subsequent combat take place 60 km. north of Akjoujt
Akjoujt
Akjoujt is a town in western Mauritania. It is located at around . It is the capital of Inchiri region. The town's main industry is gold and copper mining....
. They were surrounded and cornered by Mauritanian troops with Panhard AML
Panhard AML
-Former Operators:: unknown number of AML-60s and AML-90s in service between 1960-1975.: 34 Eland 90s and Eland 60s in service with the Rhodesian Security Forces in 1979, passed on to successor state.-Trivia:...
's and then annihilated. Ouali's body was sent to Nouackchott and buried secretly in a military terrain (in 1996, 20 years after his death, the exact place of his rests was revealed), where still lays. His position as Secretary-General was briefly assumed in an interim capacity by Mahfoud Ali Beiba
Mahfoud Ali Beiba
Mahfoud Laroussi Ali Beiba was a Sahrawi nationalist politician and co-founder of the Polisario Front, an organisation that seeks independence for Western Sahara...
, who was then replaced by Mohammed Abdelaziz at the Polisario's III General Popular Congress in August 1976.
National holidays
El-Ouali is revered as a Father of the NationFather of the Nation
Father of the Nation is an honorific title given to a man considered the driving force behind the establishment of their country, state or nation...
by the Sahrawi refugee population, and there is a simple stone monument built to his honour in the desert. The day of his death, June 9, has been declared The Day of the Martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s, a holiday of the republic that honors all Sahrawi victims in the war for independence.
In Mauritania, the June 9 was declared by Mokhtar Ould Daddah the day of the Mauritanian armed forces.
Music
The Sahrawi music group "Shahid El Hafed Buyema" changed their name to "Shahid El Uali" shortly afterwards his death in combat.See also
- Polisario FrontPolisario FrontThe POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
- Front Polisario Khat al-ShahidFront Polisario Khat al-ShahidFront Polisario Khat al-Shahid is a minor faction within the Front Polisario...
- Politics of Western SaharaPolitics of Western SaharaThe politics of Western Sahara take place in a framework of an area claimed by both the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco, which controls the majority of the territory....
- Western Sahara WarWestern Sahara WarThe Western Sahara War was an armed conflict primarily between the Polisario Front and Morocco, the conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords by which it gave administrative control of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania...