Polisario member gets 5-year prison sentence for stealing explosives in mauritania

A member of the Algerian-backed separatist movement "Polisario" was sentenced, in Nouakchott Tuesday, by a Mauritanian court to five years in prison for stealing and selling explosives.

Mohamed Ould Bakhili stole the explosives on December 8 from a warehouse belonging to the Societe nationale d'Industrie et des mines "SNIM."

The Mauritanian public opinion and Government followed with a great interest the developments of this case which raised concerns over the big quantities of explosives that were stolen or might have fallen in the hands of opposition and terrorist groups.

The man was known for conducting propaganda campaigns in favor of the Polisario which is claiming the independence of the Moroccan Sahara, known as Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords signed with Spain and Mauritania.

He was arrested in December after his return from the Tindouf Camps (Southwestern Algeria) where the separatist movement is based.

The majority of Polisario members have, these past years, been involved in a traffic of weapons, smuggling of cigarettes and other merchandise namely tea and fabric between Mauritania and Algeria.

Two Mauritanian nationals, Mokhtar Ould Samba and Merabbih Ould Hamdi have also been sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the case.