Brahim Ghali

Brahim Ghali (/ˈɡɑːli/) (Arabic: إبراهيم غالي, Spanish: Brahim Gali; born 16 September 1949) is the current president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and former SADR Ambassador to Algeria.[1][2] Ghali has served as a historic figure and played a key role in the struggle of the Sahrawi people for self-determination and independence from Morocco. He was instrumental in the creation of the Movement for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab,[3] the 1970 Zemla Intifada against Spanish rule,[4] the foundation of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Polisario Front) in 1973, and the Sahrawi Republic in 1976. He also played a major role in the Western Sahara War and establishment of MINURSO, the UN peacekeeping mission for the Western Sahara.

Brahim Ghali
إبراهيم غالي
3rd President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 July 2016
Prime Minister	Abdelkader Taleb Omar Mohamed Wali Akeik
Preceded by	Khatri Addouh (Acting)
Sahrawi Ambassador to Algeria
In office 5 June 2010 – 12 July 2016
Prime Minister	Abdelkader Taleb Omar
Preceded by	Mohamed Yeslem Beissat
Succeeded by	Vacant
Sahrawi Ambassador to Spain
In office September 1999 – February 2008
Prime Minister	Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun Abdelkader Taleb Omar
Preceded by	Omar Mansour
Succeeded by	Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun
Minister of Defense
In office 5 March 1976 – 5 March 2005
Prime Minister	Mohamed Lamine Ould Ahmed Mahfoud Ali Beiba
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Mohamed Lamine Bouhali
Personal details
Born	16 September 1949 Smara, Spanish Sahara
Political party	Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab (1969–1970) Polisario Front

Biography

Ghali was born in Smara, then Spanish Sahara, on 16 September 1949 (although other sources claimed he was born in Bu Craa). Gali joined the Spanish-led Nomadic troops in the late 1960s, and was subsequently dispatched to Smara for administrative work. After several meetings with Mohamed Bassiri and other Sahrawi political leadership, they decided to create the AOLS in 1969, with Gali being the affiliation secretary of the organization. He participated in the AOLS demonstration held in El Aaiun on June 16, 1970, which passed to be known as the Zemla Intifada. Detained that same night by Spanish soldiers, he was sentenced to one year in prison for his political activities. He was freed in 1971, but was briefly detained again in 1972 for taking part in demonstrations.

Ghali was one of the original founders and leaders of the Polisario Front in 1973, and was elected as the first General Secretary of the movement at its constitutive congress. Alongside El Uali Mustapha Sayed, Gali led the El-Khanga raid, the first military action of the POLISARIO against a desert post of the Spanish Army, overrunning the position and gathering weapons and equipment.[5] In 1974, as El Uali was elected as the new POLISARIO General Secretary, Gali was selected to command the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army, its military wing.

On October 22, 1975, Gali, El Uali and Mahfoud Ali Beiba met General Federico Gómez de Salazar, the Spanish governor of the territory on the first official encounter between representatives of the Spanish government and the POLISARIO. Negotiations broke off shortly thereafter, with Gali do not attending another meeting with Gómez de Salazar on October 29, while the Spanish government declared a curfew on El Aaiun.[6]

On 4 March 1976, he was designated as the Defense Minister of the first government of SADR, proclaimed in Bir Lehlou on February 27. He remained in that post until 1989 when he was chosen as Commander-in-chief of the Second Military Region.

At an election held on July 9, 2016 in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Ghali was chosen as the next President and Secretary-General of SADR. Ghali replaced longtime leader Mohamed Abdelaziz, who died on May 31, 2016.[7] Ghali paid a presidential visit to the Nigerian President, President Mohammadu Buhari on Thursday, June 13, 2019, at the villa in Abuja, Nigeria.[8]

References

1. "Ambassador Brahim Gali condoles family of Abdelhamid Mehri". Sahara Press Service. 2012-02-02. Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
2. "The Polisario accused AQIM of kidnapping 3 Europeans". Ennahar online. 2011-10-23. Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
3. "Declaración de Mohamed Bassir (1970)". Desaparecidos.org. Retrieved 2012-09-05. (in Spanish),
4. "Brahim Gali". Diario Vasco. 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2012-09-05. (in Spanish)
5. Bárbulo, Tomás (2002). La historia prohibida del Sáhara Español. Barcelona: Ediciones Destino / Colección Imago Mundi vol. 21. pp. 110–115. ISBN 978-84-233-3446-9.
6. "Toque de queda en el Sáhara". ABC. 1975-10-29. Retrieved 2012-10-05. (in Spanish)
7. "Western Sahara's Polisario Front Elects Leader". Al Monitor. 2016-07-12. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
8. Television, Oak (13 June 2019). "Buhari receives Saharawi President, Brahim Ghali". OAK TV. Retrieved 14 June 2019.