Sahrawi tribe notable flees separatist camps, returns to Morocco

A sheikh of the Sahrawi Azerguiyine tribe recently returned to Morocco after long years of sequestration in the camps of Tindouf, southwestern Algeria.

Abdellah Ould Lahcen Ould Oummayssa returned in response to the royal call "the homeland is clement and merciful."

Oummayssa's return to Laayoune is a victory of the spirit of patriotism and unity and a hard blow for separatists, members of the cheikh's family and tribe said.

The Sheikh is known for his courageous nationalist stands and fight against the tyranny of Polisario (secessionist group claiming the independence of Morocco's southern provinces) as well as his combat against French and Spanish colonialism, the sheikh's kin said.

The Association of Families of Sahrawi Victims of Repression in Tindouf Camps (PASVERT) hailed the bold stand of Ould Oummayssa during the past years in Lahmada camps, recalling that he fought the despotism of Polisario against the sequestered in Tindouf.

The association underlined that all its members were victim of inhumane treatment and physical torture in Polisario's prisons in Algeria.

PASVERTI announced that Ould Oummayssa will be appointed the association's honor chairman in recognition of his help to PASVERTI's members when they were detained in Polisario prisons in Tindouf.