Algerian Army Arrested Leaders in the Polisario Front were Trying to Join Morocco

   According to Algeria Times, five key leaders in the Polisario are detained by the Algerian authorities in army barracks in Tindouf (southwestern Algeria). This event followed the return to Morocco of Ahmaddou Ould Souilem, Polisario founder who served as minister-advisor to the presidency of the phantom entity.

  Algeria Times, based on reliable sources, said that top military officials held a series of meetings in Tindouf and Algiers after the  defection of the top polisario leader, adding that Investigations were opened to look into the circumstances of Ould Souilem’s return to Morocco.

 The same sources, according to Algeria Times, stated that among the persons questioned and suspected of preparing a return to Morocco via Mauritania, there is Mohamed Yeslem Bissat, delegate minister for Foreign Affairs and Africa, and Bachir Mustapha Sayed in addition to other influential polisario officials.

 The sources, who requested anonymity for security reasons, according to Algeria Times said that these senior officials who are currently in detention, in Algerian army barracks in Tindouf, are being interrogated under the supervision of intelligence services.

  Furthermore, members of the leadership of the separatist movement, led by Brahim Ghali, are negotiating with the detainees in order to convince them give up the idea of returning to Rabat, the Algerian paper said, affirming that large-scale defections at the current juncture will have a negative impact on the future of the Polisario.

  It sould be noted that, Algerian authorities tried to keep the detention of top polisario officials as a secret in an attempt to swallow the setbacks created by the return of Ould Souilem to his homeland Morocco. His return dealt a hard blow to the secessionists who tighten their grip on people suspected of yearning to flee to Morocco.