Polisario leader's death announced

Published on 31/05/2016 - 17:51

68-year-old Mohamed Abdelaziz led a decades-long fight for independence in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

The death has been announced of the long-standing leader of Western Sahara’s Polisario movement, Mohamed Abdelaziz.

Abdelaziz has lead a decades-long fight for independence in the disputed territory.

#Polisario Leader Mohammed Abdelaziz Dies After Battle With Cancer https://t.co/UTxtrMY5p9 #westernsahara pic.twitter.com/RaWufUHlAS
— Morocco World News (@MWNEnglish) May 31, 2016

The Sahara Press Service said Abdelaziz, who was 68, had been ill for a long time.

Morocco took over most of the territory in 1975, but Abdelaziz’s Polisario Front began a guerrilla war saying the desert region on Africa’s northwest belongs to them.

Polisario has been based in Algeria since a UN ceasefire in 1991.

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