Mauritanian weekly reports dissensions in Polisario ranks

Mauritanian weekly Al-Qalam reported that serious dissensions were tearing apart the separatist Polisario front.

"Relations within the front have deteriorated and divisions have grown so intense that Mohamed Abdelaziz (Polisario chief) is questioned by former strongman Bachir Mustapha Sayed," the weekly said.

Earlier press reports had said that Bachir Mustapha Sayed, former foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), defected the Polisario gang and joined Mauritania.

Bachir Mustapha Sayed, who is also Polisario coordinator with the MINURSO (U.N. mission supervising a referendum process in the Sahara), settled with his family and some of his followers in the Mauritanian locality of Bir Um Grine, according to the press.

He escaped to Mauritania after he had backed a military revolt led by Ayoub El-Habib against Mohamed Abdelaziz, presumed president of the SADR.

Dissident Bachir Mustapha Sayed was backed by several military chiefs, the Mauritanian weekly said, recalling that signs of growing dissension appeared during the Polisario's congress, held last September in Tindouf.