The Movement for the Liberation of

Saguia el-Hamra Saguia el-Hamra ( es, Saguía el Hamra, ar, الساقية الحمراء, lit=Red Canal, translit=al-Saqiyah al-Hamra'a) was, with Río de Oro, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969. Its name ...

and Wadi el Dhahab, also referred to as the Liberation Movement ( ar, حركة تحرير Harakat Tahrir), Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara, Advanced Organization of the Sahara or simply the Muslim Party was a Sahrawi movement created in the late 1960s by Muhammad Bassiri, a Sahrawi journalist and

quranic The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

teacher. Its aim was the peaceful overturning of Spanish colonial rule and achievement of Western Sahara's self-determination. It initially organized and operated in secret, but revealed its existence in a demonstration in El-Aaiun (Laayoune) against Spanish rule in 1970, attempting to hand over a petition to the Spanish colonial rulers calling for better treatment and Western Sahara's independence. The protest was immediately and bloodily suppressed by the colonial forces. The massacre and ensuing disturbances has been named the

Zemla Intifada The Zemla Intifada (or the Zemla Uprising) is the name used to refer to disturbances of June 17, 1970, which culminated in a massacre (between 2 and 11 persons were killed) by Spanish Legion forces in the Zemla district of El Aaiun, Spanish Sah ...

, or uprising, after the place the demonstration was held. A nationwide hunt for members of the movement followed: Bassiri himself was arrested and "

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

" in Spanish custody. He is assumed to have been killed by his jailors, and is counted by the present-day Sahrawi nationalist movement as its first modern-day

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

(Morocco, which claims Western Sahara as its own province, has also similarly attempted to appropriate his legacy, arguing that the Harakat Tahrir was primarily interested in ejecting Spain, not in achieving independence as a nation separate from Morocco). After the crushing of the

Harakat Tahrir The Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab, also referred to as the Liberation Movement ( ar, حركة تحرير Harakat Tahrir), Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara, Advanced Organization of the Sahara or si ...

, Sahrawi nationalists abandoned the hope of a peaceful end to colonial rule. In May 1973 the militant Front Polisario formed under the leadership of El-Ouali, calling for armed revolution against Spanish rule. The Polisario, which is still active, would later turn its guns on the Moroccan and Mauritanian forces which invaded Western Sahara upon Spain's departure in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Movement For The Liberation Of The Saguia El Hamra And Wadi El Dhahab Western Sahara conflict 1967 establishments in Spanish Sahara Rebel groups in Western Sahara Sahrawi nationalism 1970 disestablishments in Spain Political parties established in 1967 Political parties disestablished in 1970 Banned political parties in Spain Defunct nationalist parties in Spain