Even before the Polisario's creation, Algeria prepared Tindouf to accommodate Sahrawis

Years before the emergence of the Polisario Front, officially created in 1973, and before the 1969 Libyan revolution led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s coup, Algeria made no secret of its plans for Western Sahara, then under Spanish colonization.

Dated May 27, 1967, a confidential letter from the Spanish ambassador to Algiers, José Luis Los Arcos (1964-1970), addressed to the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, unveils Algeria’s interest for the Sahara.

The letter is a written report on the meetings held between the Spanish ambassador and Abdelaziz Bouteflika, then Algeria’s Foreign Minister, and the head of the Legal Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the matter. The Algerian side notably warned the Spanish ambassador of the heavy Moroccan threat to Western Sahara. Algiers argued that the Kingdom was preparing «a maneuver» with the support of the «Reguibate tribe, based in Tarfaya», to seize the territory.

Tindouf as «the capital of the Reguibat» tribe

Algeria alerted Spain of «acts of aggression» against Spanish soldiers stationed in Laayoune and Seguia El Hamra. Operations which would be carried out by armed groups close to Rabat, stressing that «Morocco is incapable of facing the Spanish and Algerian armies». The Spanish diplomat reported that Algeria «will not remain idle» in the face of Rabat’s regional project.

While admitting that the Algerian side «hid their true game», the Spanish ambassador welcomed a «convergence of interests» between Spain and Algeria on the subject. He also told his hierarchy that the Algerians planned to convert Tindouf, in the years to come, «into the capital of the Reguibat tribe of the entire region; a link between the Algerian population and neighboring countries». A space which, according to the Algerian version, would be «the prelude to the construction of the Greater Maghreb».

Ten years after the letter from the Spanish ambassador to Algiers, the Algerian government has succeeded in realizing part of its project. With the support of the Polisario, controlled by elements belonging to the Reguibat tribe, thousands of inhabitants of the Sahara left the territory towards Tindouf. Mauritanians, Algerians and Malians have also settled there.

The ambassador also reported the «friendly confidences» of a senior Algerian diplomat on the registration of Algerian people from the Reguibat tribe by the Spanish administration. Algiers thus anticipated the organization of a referendum in the province.

Eleven years after José Luis Los Arcos' letter, dated May 27, 1967, a CIA document, dated December 1977, attributed Algeria's support to the Polisario to «its historic rivalry with Morocco for hegemony in North-West Africa». «Algeria’s objective is to establish an independent Sahrawi republic, over which it will have total influence», noted the CIA.