Bir Lehlu (Liberated Territories), April 1, 2020 (SPS) -The Government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has decreed seven-day official mourning following the physical loss of the member of the National Secretariat Frente POLISARIO (head of international relations) and coordinator with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Mhamad Jadad, who died on Wednesday after a hard battle with a terminal illness.
The Saharawi Government has announced the sad news, stating that "the Saharawi people, without a doubt, lose one of their most loyal and honorable men", highlighting his figure as "one of the fighters and leaders of POLISARIO who accompanied the Saharawi struggle from its beginnings with sincerity, sacrifice and generosity.
Mhamad Jadad, born in 1954, abandoned his studies in Public Works engineering, in Algeria, to join the Saharawi revolution at a very young age. Since that, he has occupied important positions and functions in the national liberation movement and the Saharawi Government.
A prominent militant of the POLISARIO, in 1978 he was part of the Saharawi delegation in the first direct negotiations with Morocco, held in 1978 in Bamako, Mali. He has also served as RASD ambassador in Algeria, on two occasions, responsible for the European department in the foreign committee of POLISARIO and governor of the Wilaya de Smara, among other responsibilities.
After the signing of the ceasefire between the POLISARIO and Morocco in 1991, Jadad played a crucial role in the census work to determine the list of legitimate voters in the self-determination referendum in Western Sahara.
Mhamad Jadad has led the legal battle of POLISARIO in the European courts, achieving historical successes of the Saharawi people against Morocco and the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the occupied areas of Western Sahara.SPSP
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