Sept. 29, 2011
Mauritanian President reports that AQIM and other militants have acquired Libyan arms, including surface-to-air missiles. xxxiv
Sept. 20, 2011
US terrorism expert Yonah Alexander, International Center for Terrorism Studies, says the “Polisario is intensifying activities to transport and smuggle illegal drugs in both North Africa and Europe. The Polisario is working with Al Qaida in both the drug and weapons trade.”xxxv
Sept. 15, 2011
Malian security forces hunt for rival gangs of drug smugglers from Mali, Niger, and the Polisario, after a desert gun battle over ton of cocaine and hashish leaves four dead, according to a Malian army official.xxxvi
Sept. 10, 2011
Analysts say that Libyan dictator Qaddafi’s fall seriously weakens the Polisario in its dispute with Morocco on the Western Sahara, after widespread reports that Polisario mercenaries sided with Qaddafi. xxxvii
May 29, 2011
US Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart urges colleagues in Congress to give « serious attention » to evidence that Polisario members are « participating as mercenaries in Colonel Qaddafi’s murderous campaign.”xxxviii
May 20, 2011
The US Administration expresses concern to Algeria that “credible sources report” that Polisario mercenaries are being paid by Qaddafi “to fight NATO-led forces and kill Libyan protesters and rebels.”xxxix
April 21, 2011
The London Telegraph reports that senior NATO officials have received information that Col. Qaddafi is hiring 450 Polisario mercenaries for $10,000 each to fight Libyan rebels and prop up his regime.xl
Jan. 16, 2011
Former Polisario Chief Police Inspector, Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud says “the situation is grave for the youth who are marginalized” in Polisario-run camps in Algeria. “The camps are fertile grounds for Islamic fundamentalist groups and drug traffickers.”xli
Jan. 6, 2011
Terrorism cell and arms cache broken up in W. Sahara suggest “links between AQIM and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.”xlii Washington Post columnist J. Rubin writes, “there is ample evidence the Polisario Front… is in league with al-Qaeda.”xliii
Jan. 3, 2010
US DEA former Director of Operations, Michael Braun, calls conditions ‘dismal for Saharans living in the Polisario-run camps,’ which have become a “breeding-ground for potential future AQIM recruits.” xliv
Dec. 21, 2010
Leaders arrested in one of the Sahel’s largest drug-smuggling rings are purported to have close ties to the Polisario Front. Nigerien officials call it, “one of the major drug trafficking networks » in the Sahara. It is known as « Polisario » because 90% of its members come from camps of the Polisario Front. xlv
Dec. 9, 2010
Political experts express increasing concern about violence instigated by pro-Polisario militants in Laayoune, Western Sahara. “The situation is becoming more dangerous, because of the violence and because al-Qaeda is now present.” – political analyst T. Tarik.xlvi
Nov. 10, 2010
Algeria reports “Cocaine that comes from Brazil, Peru, and Colombia supports the nucleus of al-Qaeda in the region” – Algerian head of the National Office for Combating Drugs & Addiction, Abdelmalek Sayeh. xlvii
Oct. 18, 2010
A drug ring linked to AQIM is dismantled in Morocco. VOA cites experts and evidence from Mauritania and Mali indicating that AQIM has worked in the last two years “to recruit Sahrawis who are trained fighters to carry out their operations.”xlviii
Aug. 23, 2010
AQIM frees three Spanish kidnapping victims after Mauritania agrees to release the perpetrator, Omar Sahraoui, who is “believed to have been a senior commander of the Polisario Front in Western Sahara.”xlix
July 2010
Mauritania sentences reported Polisario veteran, Omar al Sahraoui, to 12 years for the 2009 kidnapping of Spanish aid workers. Mauritanian court papers document that he was paid by AQIM along with at least three other Polisario veterans to organize and carry out the crime.l
April 12, 2010
Security expert calls the Western Sahara conflict a “vicious cycle” that terrorists can exploit; cites “evidence that members of the military arm of the Polisario Front have been involved in illicit activities.”li
February 2010
Polisario veteran Omar le Sahraoui is arrested in Mali and extradited to stand trial in Mauritania for kidnapping Spanish aid workers.lii
Nov. 29, 2009
AQIM claims responsibility for kidnapping three Spanish aid workers in Mauritania. Mauritanian security services later discover that AQIM had hired Omar al Sahraoui—who was reportedly a member of the Polisario’s hierarchy—and at least three other Polisario veterans to organize and carry out the abductions.liii
Moroccan American Center for Policy
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