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As the 5th African Union-European Union summit was concluded, the Polizario Front issued a statement calling its participation victorious. Brahim Ghali, leader and «Secretary-General» of the separatist movement affirmed in the same statement that attending the international meeting in Abidjan is «a victory for the Sahrawi people and their just cause».
Referring to Morocco, Ghali insisted that Front’s «achievement» «shows to the whole world and all partners that SADR cannot be ignored as a permanent founding member of the AU». Beside the statement, the Front organized a gathering in the Tindouf camps to celebrate what it considers as «a historical victory for the Sahrawi cause at the AU-EU summit in Abidjan».
Mahjoub Salek and the false victory
However, while the Polisario Front and Brahim Ghali in particular praise the movement’s participation and see it as a victory, other former officials in the front think the opposite. The first to acknowledge that is Mahjoub Salek leader and founder of the Martyr’s Line (Khat Ach’chahid), an opposition movement within the Polisario Front. Speaking to Alwiam, a Mauritanian online newspaper, Mahjoub Salek stated that the Front is «deceiving the people in the camps through claiming false victories».
According to Salek, who is also a co-founder of the separatist movement, Brahim Ghali and his friends are spreading propaganda through making Sahrawis think that attending the summit on the 29th and 30th of November in Abidjan was a turning point in the Polisario’s political policy.
Meanwhile, he insisted that «Morocco and since it joined the African union, which was considered by the Polisario leadership as a major victory for them, is successfully pulling the rug out of the Front’s legs».
Mustapha Salma amazed at the Polisario's claims
Mahjoub Salek was not the only one to publicly mock the claims of the Polisario leadership. In a Facebook post, Mustapha Salma, a former official at the Tindouf camps, indicated that taking part at the Abidjan summit serves Morocco the most all while weakening the Polisario’s position in the continent.
«I was amazed at what happened, what is happening,and at what the Front calls a historical victory».
«While at the summit, we did not hear of the Polisario’s delegation activities in Abidjan», said the Mustapha Salma.
On the first day of the summit, the Moroccan Foreign Minister told EFE in an interview that Morocco is committed to continues with its offensive approach in Africa. «We must not allow our opponents to present their arguments (…) Morocco will explain its reasons and convince (members of the African Union) of its position», said the minister.
