Rabat – Intelligence services operating under Spain’s former dictator Francisco Franco documented Brahim Ghali’s “every move” from 1971 to 1975.
Brahim Ghali’s presence on the international crime radar is nothing new, according to new evidence. In the early 1970’s, Spain’s intelligence community used agents in the Sahara to monitor Brahim Ghali and his movements.
Spanish media outlet La Razon posted evidence of Brahim Ghali’s police file from the surveillance period. Ghali, identified as Gali Sidi Mustafa, was heavily surveilled as Spanish intelligence was primarily concerned with his back-and-forth business dealings.
The report lists Ghali’s weekend trips to Smara (a former Polisario stronghold in Western Sahara) under “subversive activities.”
Additionally, Ghali reportedly traveled to Mauritania, Algeria, and Libya to raise funds for the Polisario Front. At the time, Spanish intelligence considered Ghali a mere “member of the Polisario Front’s diplomatic committee.”
“”He is one of the members of the foreign gangs organized by the bordering countries in which he appears to guide these games as a connoisseur of the terrain,” stressed the report.
Eventually, the agents under the Franco regime began to refer to Ghali as a “true leader.”
The reports also focused on Ghali’s business dealings in Algeria and Saudi Arabia. “It is probable that he joined the expedition of pilgrims to Mecca to propagandize among our pilgrims,” an agent in the report said of Ghali’s trip to Saudi Arabia.
The Polisario activist was arrested multiple times for spreading anti-Spanish propaganda in the spanish-controlled Western Sahara.
As for Mauritania, the agent noted that “he visits haimas settlements in Mauritania in order to request financial aid for the group.” Ghali’s brother supposedly lived in Mauritania according to the report.
The release of Brahim Ghali’s criminal record is an important update in the saga of his presence in Spain as it shows he has been on the international radar for his crimes for nearly 50 years.
Ghali is currently standing trial in Spain for his crimes committed as the leader of the Polisario Front.
