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{{POV|date=March 2014}}
{{POV|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Khalihenna Ould Errachid
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Khalihenna Ould Errachid
| native_name = خليهن ولد الرشيد
|honorific-suffix =
| native_name_lang = ar
|image = Khalihenna ould errachid 2.jpg
| image = Khalihenna ould errachid 2 (cropped).jpg
|imagesize =
| caption = Ould Errachid in 2015
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|11|24|df=yes}}
|smallimage = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
| birth_place = [[Laayoune]], [[Seguia el-Hamra]], [[Spanish West Africa]]
|alt =
|caption =
| party = [[National Rally of Independents]]
| office = President of the [[Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs]]
|order =
| term_start = 25 March 2006
| monarch = [[Mohammed VI of Morocco|Mohammed VI]]
| office1 = Mayor of [[Laayoune]]
| term_start1 = 6 June 1983
| term_end1 = 20 June 2009
| monarch1 = [[Hassan II of Morocco|Hassan II]]<br>Mohammed VI
| constituency_MP2 = Laayoune
| term_start2 = 5 June 1977
| term_end2 = 30 September 2002
| office4 = Minister in charge of the development of Southern Provinces
| term_start4 = 11 April 1985
| term_end4 = 30 September 1986
| monarch4 = Hassan II
| primeminister4 = [[Mohammed Karim Lamrani]]
| office5 = Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
| term5 = 10 March 1977 – 5 October 1981<br />5 November 1981 – 5 October 1983<br />30 November 1983 – 11 April 1985<br />30 September 1986 – 11 August 1992<br />
| monarch5 = Hassan II
| office10 = President of the [[Sahrawi National Union Party]]
| term_start10 = 10 April 1974
| term_end10 = 22 May 1975
}}


'''Khalihenna Ould Errachid''' ({{langx|ar|خليهن ولد الرشيد}}; born 23 November 1951) is a [[Moroccans|Moroccan]] [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi]] politician. He is the president of the [[Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs]] (CORCAS), a government body behind Morocco's proposed [[Western Sahara Autonomy Proposal|autonomy plan for Western Sahara]].
|office = President of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs <br />(CORCAS)
|term_start = since March 25th, 2006
|term_end =
|monarch = [[Mohammed VI of Morocco|Mohammed VI]]
|primeminister =
|predecessor =
|successor =


== Biography ==
|office1 = Mayor of the city of Laayoune (Morocco)
=== Early life ===
|term_start1 = 6 June 1983
Khalihenna Ould Errachid was born on 23 November 1951 in a tent near [[Laayoune]] within the [[Reguibat]] tribe.<ref name="jeuneafrique">{{cite news |last1=Soudan |first1=François |date=2006-10-02 |title=Le " monsieur Sahara " de M6 |work=Jeune Afrique |url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/132297/politique/le-monsieur-sahara-de-m6/ |access-date=2023-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mathias |first=Grégor |date=2021-11-16 |title=La zone grise du Front Polisario ou des Reguibats, un problème sécuritaire pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest ?: |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-securite-globale-2021-3-page-103.htm?ref=doi |journal=Sécurité globale |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=103–125 |doi=10.3917/secug.213.0103 |issn=1959-6782}}</ref> His father, a respected herdsman in the tribe, was a veteran of a tribal revolt against France during their [[French conquest of Morocco|conquest of Morocco]] in 1937.<ref name="jeuneafrique" /> He arrived in school at the age of 9, yet was an academically gifted pupil, and was quickly spotted by the Spanish colonial administration. He attended both elementary school and high school in Laayoune.<ref name="jeuneafrique" />
|term_end1 = 20 June 2009
|monarch1 = [[Hassan II]]/[[Mohammed VI of Morocco|Mohammed VI]]


Interested in politics from a young age, Ould Errachid was a rising nationalist, who attended reunions in his family home organized by [[Muhammad Bassiri]] in the 1960s.<ref name="jeuneafrique" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=خليهن ولد الرشيد.. مستقبل البوليساريو |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/programs/today-interview/2006/8/31/%d8%ae%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%87%d9%86-%d9%88%d9%84%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%b4%d9%8a%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%a8%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%88 |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=الجزيرة نت |language=ar}}</ref> On June 17, 1970, Bassiri organized a large-scale [[Zemla Intifada|demonstration in Zemla]], a district of Laayoune which Ould Errachid took part in, he witnessed the [[Spanish Legion|Spanish Legion's]] brutal crackdown on the protest which led to a dozen deaths and Bassiri's abduction.<ref name="jeuneafrique" />
|office2= Member of Parliament of the city of Laayoune (Morocco)
|term_start2 = 5 June 1977
|term_end2 = 30 September 2002
|monarch2 = [[Hassan II]]/[[Mohammed VI of Morocco|Mohammed VI]]


After Bassiri's abduction, Khalihenna went into hiding in Laayoune. He was arrested three days later by Spanish colonial authorities but was quickly released on the intervention of his Spanish teachers.<ref name="jeuneafrique" /> After obtaining his baccalaureate and a scholarship, he undertook his superior studies in an industrial engineering school in [[Madrid]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=الهاشمي |first=نعمان |date=2010-11-13 |title=خلي هنا ولد الرشيد.. صحراوي في حكومات متعددة |url=https://www.maghress.com/almassae/119937 |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=al-Massae}}</ref><ref name="jeuneafrique" />
|office3= Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
|term_start3 = 30 September 1986
|term_end3 = 11 August 1992
|monarch3 = [[Hassan II]]
|primeminister3 = [[Azzedine Laraki]]


=== Political career ===
|office4= Minister in charge of Saharan Provinces Development
In 1974, Ould Errachid started the pro-Spanish [[Sahrawi National Union Party]] (PUNS).<ref>{{cite book|last=Bárbulo|first=Tomás|title=La historia prohibida del Sáhara Español|publisher=Ediciones Destino / Colección Imago Mundi vol. 21|location=Barcelona|year=2002|isbn=978-84-233-3446-9|page=175}}</ref> The PUNS, which had been created with the approval of the Spanish authorities, was the only authorized [[political party]] in [[Spanish Sahara]] (also in the rest of Spain, except the ruling [[Falangism|Falange]] movement) between 1974 and 1975, had been created to counter the territorial claims from neighbours [[Morocco]] and [[Mauritania]], as well as the [[Sahrawi nationalist|Sahrawi nationalism]] [[Polisario Front]], created in 1973.<ref name="jeuneafrique" />
|term_start4 = 11 April 1985
|term_end4 = 30 September 1986
|monarch4 = [[Hassan II]]
|primeminister4 = [[Mohammed Karim Lamrani]]


In April 1975, during a press conference in [[Paris]], Ould Errachid declared that "if it weren't for [[phosphates]], nobody would vindicate the territory. What Morocco seeks is not the Sahrawi welfare, but the exploitation of phosphates. We want independence, and the circumstance is given that in the future state of Western Sahara there are phosphates deposits."<ref>{{cite news|title=Si no hubiera fosfatos, nadie habría reinvindicado el Sáhara|url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1975/04/23/031.html|publisher=[[ABC (newspaper)|ABC Sevilla]]|date=1975-04-23|access-date=2010-09-22|language=es}}</ref>
|office5= Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
|term_start5 = 30 November 1983
|term_end5 = 11 April 1985
|monarch5 = [[Hassan II]]
|primeminister5 = [[Mohammed Karim Lamrani]]


=== Under Hassan II ===
|office6= Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
|term_start6 = 05 November 1981
|term_end6 = 05 October 1983
|monarch6 = [[Hassan II]]
|primeminister6 = [[Mohammed Maati Bouabid]]


During the [[United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara]] in May–June 1975, and before the [[Madrid Accords|Madrid Agreement]], Ould Errachid fled from El Aaiún to [[Las Palmas]], and then took another plane to Morocco. Few days after, on May 19, Ould Errachid declared his allegiance to the King of Morocco, [[Hassan II]] in [[Fes|Fez]].<ref name="pres">{{cite web |title=President |url=http://www.corcas.com/Default.aspx?tabid=496 |website=CORCAS}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Hassan II recibe al líder fugitivo del PUNS | url=http://www.canarias-semanal.com/biografiaaineditas/articulos/uldrachid.html | publisher=[[EFE]] | date=1975-05-19 | access-date=2010-10-08 | language=es | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708113820/http://www.canarias-semanal.com/biografiaaineditas/articulos/uldrachid.html | archive-date=2011-07-08 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Ould Errachid claims that he helped organize the [[Green March]] in 1975.<ref name="pres" /> Several sources alleged that he left Western Sahara with between 160,000 and 6,000,000 [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]] taken from a bank account linked to PUNS.<ref>{{cite news|title=Los cismas tras la autonomía saharaui|url=http://www.igadi.org/artigos/2006/dar_los_cismas_tras_la_autonomia_saharaui.htm|author=David M. Alvarado Roales|publisher= Igadi.org ([[Avui]])|date=7 December 2012|access-date=25 September 2013|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sahara: el PUNS se desmorona|url=http://www.march.es/ceacs/biblioteca/proyectos/linz/documento.asp?reg=r-14459|publisher= March.es (Informaciones)|date=20 May 1975|access-date=25 September 2013|language=es}}</ref> Under [[King of Morocco|King]] [[Hassan II]], he was appointed in 1977 as Minister of Saharan Affairs, and later as mayor (President of the Municipal Council) of [[Laayoune]] from 1983 until 2006, when he was succeeded by his brother, [[Moulay Hamdi Ould Errachid]].
|office7= Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
|term_start7 = 27 March 1979
|term_end7 = 05 October 1981
|monarch7 = [[Hassan II]]
|primeminister7 = [[Mohammed Maati Bouabid]]


He was viewed as very close to the King Hassan's right-hand man, the minister of interior [[Driss Basri]], who held responsibility for the Saharan territories, where Polisario waged a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against Morocco until the [[Settlement Plan|1991 cease-fire]] (still in effect, pending final resolution of the conflict).<ref>{{cite web |last1=BROUSKY |first1=Omar |title=Que peut faire le Corcas ? |url=http://www.lejournal-hebdo.com/article.php3?id_article=7778 |website=lejournal-hebdo.com |publisher=Le Journal Hebdo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904073113/http://www.lejournal-hebdo.com/article.php3?id_article=7778 |archive-date=4 September 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Following the death of King Hassan in 1999, and the dismissal of Basri by the new king [[Mohammed VI of Morocco|Mohammed VI]]'s new government a few years later, Ould Errachid believed his political career was over.<ref>{{cite web |title=" Le courage " de la vingt-cinquième heure |url=http://www.lejournal-hebdo.com/article.php3?id_article=8826 |website=Le Journal Hebdo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004627/http://www.lejournal-hebdo.com/article.php3?id_article=8826 |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|office8= Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
|term_start8 = 10 October 1977
|term_end8 = 27 March 1979
|monarch8 = [[Hassan II]]
|primeminister8 = [[Ahmed Osman (politician)|Ahmed Osman]]


=== Under Mohammed VI ===
|office9= Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
|term_start9 = 10 March 1977
|term_end9 = 10 October 1977
|monarch9 = [[Hassan II]]
|primeminister9 = [[Ahmed Osman (politician)|Ahmed Osman]]


In 2006, King Mohammed VI created the [[Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs]] (CORCAS) to promote Morocco's autonomy plan. As head of the royal council, Khalihenna Ould Errachid made a public comeback, and was featured prominently in Moroccan [[diplomacy]].
|office10= Direct Collaborator of His Majesty King [[Hassan II]]
|term_start10 = 23 May 1975
|term_end10 = 31 December 1976
|monarch10 = [[Hassan II]]


Khalihenna Ould Errachid considers the Polisario Front as an obstacle to a peaceful solution due to what he saw as deep dependency on Algeria.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conférence de presse du Président du Corcas pendant la 2ième session ordinaire du Conseil à Smara |url=http://www.corcas.com/Default.aspx?tabid=179&ctl=Details&mid=1489&ItemID=9975 |website=CORCAS}}</ref> The Polisario refuses to acknowledge CORCAS and refuses Morocco's autonomy plan, opting for full independence instead.<ref>{{cite web |title=SAHARA OCCIDENTAL - ACTUALITES |url=https://www.arso.org/01-f06-1314.htm |website=ARSO}}</ref>
|office11= Founder of the Sahrawi National Union Party (PUNS)
|term_start11 = 07 April 1974
|term_end11 = 22 May 1975
|monarch11 = [[Hassan II]]


In 2008, a transcript from a 2005 [[Equity and Reconciliation Commission]] meeting regarding the [[Western Sahara War]] was leaked to Al-Jarida al-Oula, during the meeting, Ould Errachid declared that "there are some people [...], about three or four Army officers who have committed what can be called war crimes against prisoners outside the scope of the war" and that "many civilians were thrown from helicopters or buried alive".<ref>{{cite news |last1=LMRABET |first1=ALI |title=Un responsable marroquí reconoce crímenes de guerra en el Sáhara |url=https://www.arso.org/elmundo170608.html |publisher=El Mundo |date=2006-06-17}}</ref>
|predecessor3 =
|successor3 =
|party =
|birth_date = 1951
|birth_place = [[Laayoune]], [[Spanish Sahara]]
|death_date =
|death_place =
|restingplace =
|restingplacecoordinates =
|birthname =
|citizenship =
|nationality =
|spouse =
|relations =
|children =
|residence =
|alma_mater =
|occupation = Politician
|profession =
|cabinet =
|committees =
|portfolio =
|signature =
|signature_alt =
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
'''Khalihenna Ould Errachid''' ({{lang-ar|خلي هنا ولد الرشيد}}, name also transliterated from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] as Khalihenna Wald Al Rasheed and other variations) is the [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi]] chairman of the [[Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs]] (CORCAS), a [[Morocco|Moroccan]] government body active in the [[United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories|non-self-governing territory]] of [[Western Sahara]].

==Under Spain==

A member of an influential [[family]] in the [[Reguibat]] [[tribe]], Khalihenna Ould Errachid was appointed by the [[Spain|Spanish]] government to head the [[Sahrawi National Union Party]] (PUNS) in 1974.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bárbulo|first=Tomás|title=La historia prohibida del Sáhara Español|publisher=Ediciones Destino / Colección Imago Mundi vol. 21|location=Barcelona|year=2002|isbn=978-84-233-3446-9|page=175}}</ref> The PUNS, which had been created with the approval of the Spanish authorities, was the only legal [[political party]] in [[Spanish Sahara]] (also in the whole Spain, except the ruling [[Falange]] movement) in the 1974-75 period, had been created to counter the territorial claims from neighbours [[Morocco]] and [[Mauritania]], as well as the [[indigenous peoples of Africa|indigenous]] [[independence]] movement headed by the [[Polisario Front]], created in 1973. It initially advocated [[autonomy]] for the territory under continued Spanish colonial rule, but, as the Spanish position evolved, the party and its leader, Khalihenna Ould Errachid, started demanding independence "in association"{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}} with Spain, proclaiming themselves completely opposed to Moroccan and Mauritanian designs on the territory.

In April 1975, during a press conference in [[Paris]], Ould Errachid stated:
{{cquote|"If there weren't [[phosphates]], nobody would vindicate the territory. What Morocco seeks is not the Sahrawi welfare, but
the exploitation of phosphates. We want independence, and the circumstance is given that in the future state of Western Sahara there are phosphates deposits."|30px|30px|Khalihenna Ould Errachid. París, April 21, 1975.<ref>{{cite news|title=Si allí no hubiese fosfatos, nadie reinvindicaría el Sáhara |url=http://bdigital.ulpgc.es/jable/el.eco.de.canarias/1975/04/23/0002.htm |publisher=[[El Eco de Canarias]] |date=1975-04-23 |access-date=2010-09-17 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719031511/http://bdigital.ulpgc.es/jable/el.eco.de.canarias/1975/04/23/0002.htm |archive-date=2011-07-19 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Si no hubiera fosfatos, nadie habría reinvindicado el Sáhara|url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1975/04/23/031.html|publisher=[[ABC (newspaper)|ABC Sevilla]]|date=1975-04-23|access-date=2010-09-22|language=es}}</ref>}}

==Under Morocco==

===Under Hassan II===

During the [[United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara]] in May–June 1975, and before the [[Madrid Accords|Madrid Agreement]], Khalihenna Ould Errachid fled from El Aaiún to [[Las Palmas]], and then took another plane to Morocco. Few days after, on May 19, Khalihenna Ould Errachid declared his allegiance to the King of Morocco in [[Fes|Fez]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Hassan II recibe al líder fugitivo del PUNS | url=http://www.canarias-semanal.com/biografiaaineditas/articulos/uldrachid.html | publisher=[[EFE]] | date=1975-05-19 | access-date=2010-10-08 | language=es | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708113820/http://www.canarias-semanal.com/biografiaaineditas/articulos/uldrachid.html | archive-date=2011-07-08 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Several sources claimed that he left Western Sahara with between 160,000 and 6,000,000 [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]] from the PUNS cash office.<ref>{{cite news|title=Los cismas tras la autonomía saharaui|url=http://www.igadi.org/artigos/2006/dar_los_cismas_tras_la_autonomia_saharaui.htm|author=David M. Alvarado Roales|publisher= Igadi.org ([[Avui]])|date=7 December 2012|access-date=25 September 2013|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sahara: el PUNS se desmorona|url=http://www.march.es/ceacs/biblioteca/proyectos/linz/documento.asp?reg=r-14459|publisher= March.es (Informaciones)|date=20 May 1975|access-date=25 September 2013|language=es}}</ref> Under [[King of Morocco|King]] [[Hassan II]], he was appointed in 1977 as Minister of Saharan Affairs, and later as mayor (President of the Municipal Council) of [[El-Aaiun]] from 1983 until 2006, when he was succeeded by his brother, [[Moulay Hamdi Ould Errachid]].

He was viewed as very close to the King's right-hand man, the minister of interior [[Driss Basri]],[https://web.archive.org/web/20060904073113/http://www.lejournal-hebdo.com/article.php3?id_article=7778] who held responsibility for the Saharan territories, where Polisario waged a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against Morocco until the [[Settlement Plan|1991 cease-fire]] (still in effect, pending final resolution of the conflict). Following the death of Hassan in 1999, and the dismissal of Basri by the new king [[Mohammed VI of Morocco|Muhammad VI]] a few years later, Khelli Henna's political career seemed to be over.[http://sahara-watch.blogspot.com/2006/08/rabats-man-in-laayoune.html][https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004627/http://www.lejournal-hebdo.com/article.php3?id_article=8826 transl.]

===Under Mohammed VI===

In 2006, King Mohammed VI created the CORCAS to promote autonomy as an alternative to the [[referendum]] that was agreed by both parts in the [[Settlement Plan]]. As head of the royal organ, Khalihenna Ould Errachid made a public comeback, and has featured prominently in Moroccan [[diplomacy]]. He is seen by the Moroccan government as an independent Sahrawi leader opposed to the Polisario Front independence movement, and its longtime leader [[Mohamed Abdelaziz (Sahrawi politician)|Mohamed Abdelaziz]].

Khalihenna Ould Errachid considers the Polisario Front as an obstacle to a peaceful solution due to what he saw as deep dependency on Algeria. The Polisario refuses to deal with him {{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}.

In 2008, the [[Casablanca]]-based newspaper "Al Yarida Al Ula" publisher the transcription of 2005 Rachid's declaration to the [[Equity and Reconciliation Commission]]:

{{cquote|"Some Moroccan army officers have made what might be called war crimes against prisoners outside the scope of the war ... Many civilians were launched into space from helicopters or buried alive simply for being Sahrawis."|30px|30px|Khalihenna Ould Errachid.<ref>Ali Lmrabet. ''Un responsable marroquí reconoce crímenes de guerra en el Sahara''. [[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]], June 17, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.umdraiga.com/noticias/2008/JUR.pdf ''Un responsable marroquí reconoce crímenes de guerra en el Sahara''] {{in lang|es}}</ref>}}.


== See also ==
== See also ==

*[[CORCAS]]
*[[CORCAS]]
*[[History of Western Sahara]]
*[[History of Western Sahara]]
*[[Sahrawi National Union Party]]
*[[Sahrawi National Union Party]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1283594/the_royal_advisory_council_for_saharan_affairs/ Video of Khalihenna Ould Errachid explaining Sahara Autonomy Plan]


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==

* Hodges, Tony (1983), ''Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War'', Lawrence Hill Books ({{ISBN|0-88208-152-7}})
* Hodges, Tony (1983), ''Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War'', Lawrence Hill Books ({{ISBN|0-88208-152-7}})
*Pazzanita, Anthony G. and Hodges, Tony (1994), ''Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara'', Scarecrow Press ({{ISBN|0-8108-2661-5}})
*Pazzanita, Anthony G. and Hodges, Tony (1994), ''Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara'', Scarecrow Press ({{ISBN|0-8108-2661-5}})
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[[Category:Members of the Reguibat tribe]]

Latest revision as of 10:11, 28 October 2024

Khalihenna Ould Errachid
خليهن ولد الرشيد
Ould Errachid in 2015
President of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
25 March 2006
MonarchMohammed VI
Mayor of Laayoune
In office
6 June 1983 – 20 June 2009
MonarchsHassan II
Mohammed VI
Member of Parliament
for Laayoune
In office
5 June 1977 – 30 September 2002
Minister in charge of the development of Southern Provinces
In office
11 April 1985 – 30 September 1986
MonarchHassan II
Prime MinisterMohammed Karim Lamrani
Minister in charge of Saharan Affairs
In office
10 March 1977 – 5 October 1981
5 November 1981 – 5 October 1983
30 November 1983 – 11 April 1985
30 September 1986 – 11 August 1992
MonarchHassan II
President of the Sahrawi National Union Party
In office
10 April 1974 – 22 May 1975
Personal details
Born (1951-11-24) 24 November 1951 (age 72)
Laayoune, Seguia el-Hamra, Spanish West Africa
Political partyNational Rally of Independents

Khalihenna Ould Errachid (Arabic: خليهن ولد الرشيد; born 23 November 1951) is a Moroccan Sahrawi politician. He is the president of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), a government body behind Morocco's proposed autonomy plan for Western Sahara.

Biography

[edit]

Early life

[edit]

Khalihenna Ould Errachid was born on 23 November 1951 in a tent near Laayoune within the Reguibat tribe.[1][2] His father, a respected herdsman in the tribe, was a veteran of a tribal revolt against France during their conquest of Morocco in 1937.[1] He arrived in school at the age of 9, yet was an academically gifted pupil, and was quickly spotted by the Spanish colonial administration. He attended both elementary school and high school in Laayoune.[1]

Interested in politics from a young age, Ould Errachid was a rising nationalist, who attended reunions in his family home organized by Muhammad Bassiri in the 1960s.[1][3] On June 17, 1970, Bassiri organized a large-scale demonstration in Zemla, a district of Laayoune which Ould Errachid took part in, he witnessed the Spanish Legion's brutal crackdown on the protest which led to a dozen deaths and Bassiri's abduction.[1]

After Bassiri's abduction, Khalihenna went into hiding in Laayoune. He was arrested three days later by Spanish colonial authorities but was quickly released on the intervention of his Spanish teachers.[1] After obtaining his baccalaureate and a scholarship, he undertook his superior studies in an industrial engineering school in Madrid.[3][4][1]

Political career

[edit]

In 1974, Ould Errachid started the pro-Spanish Sahrawi National Union Party (PUNS).[5] The PUNS, which had been created with the approval of the Spanish authorities, was the only authorized political party in Spanish Sahara (also in the rest of Spain, except the ruling Falange movement) between 1974 and 1975, had been created to counter the territorial claims from neighbours Morocco and Mauritania, as well as the Sahrawi nationalism Polisario Front, created in 1973.[1]

In April 1975, during a press conference in Paris, Ould Errachid declared that "if it weren't for phosphates, nobody would vindicate the territory. What Morocco seeks is not the Sahrawi welfare, but the exploitation of phosphates. We want independence, and the circumstance is given that in the future state of Western Sahara there are phosphates deposits."[6]

Under Hassan II

[edit]

During the United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara in May–June 1975, and before the Madrid Agreement, Ould Errachid fled from El Aaiún to Las Palmas, and then took another plane to Morocco. Few days after, on May 19, Ould Errachid declared his allegiance to the King of Morocco, Hassan II in Fez.[7][8] Ould Errachid claims that he helped organize the Green March in 1975.[7] Several sources alleged that he left Western Sahara with between 160,000 and 6,000,000 pesetas taken from a bank account linked to PUNS.[9][10] Under King Hassan II, he was appointed in 1977 as Minister of Saharan Affairs, and later as mayor (President of the Municipal Council) of Laayoune from 1983 until 2006, when he was succeeded by his brother, Moulay Hamdi Ould Errachid.

He was viewed as very close to the King Hassan's right-hand man, the minister of interior Driss Basri, who held responsibility for the Saharan territories, where Polisario waged a guerrilla war against Morocco until the 1991 cease-fire (still in effect, pending final resolution of the conflict).[11] Following the death of King Hassan in 1999, and the dismissal of Basri by the new king Mohammed VI's new government a few years later, Ould Errachid believed his political career was over.[12]

Under Mohammed VI

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In 2006, King Mohammed VI created the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) to promote Morocco's autonomy plan. As head of the royal council, Khalihenna Ould Errachid made a public comeback, and was featured prominently in Moroccan diplomacy.

Khalihenna Ould Errachid considers the Polisario Front as an obstacle to a peaceful solution due to what he saw as deep dependency on Algeria.[13] The Polisario refuses to acknowledge CORCAS and refuses Morocco's autonomy plan, opting for full independence instead.[14]

In 2008, a transcript from a 2005 Equity and Reconciliation Commission meeting regarding the Western Sahara War was leaked to Al-Jarida al-Oula, during the meeting, Ould Errachid declared that "there are some people [...], about three or four Army officers who have committed what can be called war crimes against prisoners outside the scope of the war" and that "many civilians were thrown from helicopters or buried alive".[15]

See also

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Further reading

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  • Hodges, Tony (1983), Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War, Lawrence Hill Books (ISBN 0-88208-152-7)
  • Pazzanita, Anthony G. and Hodges, Tony (1994), Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara, Scarecrow Press (ISBN 0-8108-2661-5)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Soudan, François (2006-10-02). "Le " monsieur Sahara " de M6". Jeune Afrique. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  2. ^ Mathias, Grégor (2021-11-16). "La zone grise du Front Polisario ou des Reguibats, un problème sécuritaire pour l'Afrique de l'Ouest ?:". Sécurité globale. 27 (3): 103–125. doi:10.3917/secug.213.0103. ISSN 1959-6782.
  3. ^ a b "خليهن ولد الرشيد.. مستقبل البوليساريو". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  4. ^ الهاشمي, نعمان (2010-11-13). "خلي هنا ولد الرشيد.. صحراوي في حكومات متعددة". al-Massae. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  5. ^ Bárbulo, Tomás (2002). La historia prohibida del Sáhara Español. Barcelona: Ediciones Destino / Colección Imago Mundi vol. 21. p. 175. ISBN 978-84-233-3446-9.
  6. ^ "Si no hubiera fosfatos, nadie habría reinvindicado el Sáhara" (in Spanish). ABC Sevilla. 1975-04-23. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  7. ^ a b "President". CORCAS.
  8. ^ "Hassan II recibe al líder fugitivo del PUNS" (in Spanish). EFE. 1975-05-19. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  9. ^ David M. Alvarado Roales (7 December 2012). "Los cismas tras la autonomía saharaui" (in Spanish). Igadi.org (Avui). Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Sahara: el PUNS se desmorona" (in Spanish). March.es (Informaciones). 20 May 1975. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  11. ^ BROUSKY, Omar. "Que peut faire le Corcas ?". lejournal-hebdo.com. Le Journal Hebdo. Archived from the original on 4 September 2006.
  12. ^ "" Le courage " de la vingt-cinquième heure". Le Journal Hebdo. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  13. ^ "Conférence de presse du Président du Corcas pendant la 2ième session ordinaire du Conseil à Smara". CORCAS.
  14. ^ "SAHARA OCCIDENTAL - ACTUALITES". ARSO.
  15. ^ LMRABET, ALI (2006-06-17). "Un responsable marroquí reconoce crímenes de guerra en el Sáhara". El Mundo.
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