Mohamed Abdelaziz

Mohamed Abdelaziz has been the leader of the Polisario Front, a claimant to the control of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, since 1976. After Spain granted Western Sahara independence in 1975, it was split between Mauritania and an independent country, which Morocco annexed. After a long civil war, a stalemate remains wherein Morocco has de facto control of most of Western Sahara's territory while the so-called Western Saharan government is exiled in Algeria.

Abdelaziz was among a group of Saharawi students at Moroccan universities. After organizing a Marxist-leaning political group, these students created Polisario to work for Saharawi independence. After declaring independence, the first president fell in the civil war and his successor resigned soon after. For most of his presidency, Abdelaziz has resided in Saharawi refugee camps in southwestern Algeria. While Abdelaziz and the Saharawi government have occasionally held talks with Morocco, these have brought little progress.

For more information, see http://bit.ly/yKn6Wd about the talks or http://bit.ly/xmXWpa about his recent re-election.