Western Sahara's Polisario Front names new leader

Western Sahara independence movement Polisario Front has elected a founding member of the group as its new leader on Saturday, local media reported.

Brahim Ghali, who represented the Algeria-backed movement in Madrid and in Algiers for diplomatic talks, is to succeed the late Mohamed Abdelaziz.

The conference that was attended by about 2 300 delegates that unanimously elected Ghali to become Polisario secretary general and president of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arabic Democratic Republic.

The former head of the front died in late May after spending decades fighting Morocco for the independence of the territory.

Local Sahrawi people are campaigning for the right to self-determination, but Morocco considers the territory to be part of the kingdom and insists its sovereignty cannot be challenged.