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Algeria rarely misses an opportunity to involve the Polisario Front in its diplomatic engagements, and the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Algiers this Monday, April 13, was no exception. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune introduced the Polisario’s representative in the Algerian capital, Khatri Adouh, to the pontiff, who briefly greeted him, an access not granted to the hundreds of foreign ambassadors accredited in Algiers.
A photograph of the encounter quickly circulated on social media, widely shared by Polisario supporters, some of whom interpreted it as an implicit gesture of «recognition» by the Vatican.
This spotlight on the Front comes at a delicate time for the movement led by Brahim Ghali, which has been facing a series of diplomatic setbacks in Africa and South America.
It is worth recalling that the Polisario had already stirred controversy in August 2018 by politically exploiting a photograph of Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, alongside Sahrawi children. The children, who were taking part in the «Holidays in Peace» program, had been received at the Vatican in the presence of Polisario representatives in Italy.
