Former Polisario leader Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud said that the Front’s leadership has launched a campaign against Sahrawi activists in the Tindouf camps. In one week, two members of opposition group the Sahrawi Initiative for Change were arrested by the separatist movement’s leadership.
Unlike festivities held in 2018, the Polisario Front celebrated the 46th anniversary of its first armed struggle on the quiet.
On April 27, the Polisario deployed tanks to disperse angry Sahrawis, protesting against restrictions imposed by Algeria. This use of force did not stop Sahrawis from resuming their protest movement in Tindouf.
In February 2017, a retired Algerian general played the role of a mediator between Brahim Ghali and Ould El Bouhali. Two years later, another Algerian general is tasked with the same mission.
Authorities in Algeria and Mauritania have been imposing strict regulations on Sahrawi merchants and NGOs wishing to enter the Tindouf camps for humanitarian reasons.