The long-standing leader of Western Sahara's Polisario movement, Mohamed Abdelaziz, died Tuesday after decades of leading a fight for independence in the disputed territory, report Reuters.
The Sahara Press Service said Abdelaziz, who was 68, had suffered from a long-term illness. Algeria's Ennahar TV, which is close to the Algerian government, also reported his death.
Morocco took over most of the Western Sahara territory in 1975, but Abdelaziz's Polisario Front began a guerrilla war saying the desert region on Africa's northwest belongs to them. Polisario had been based in Algeria since a U.N. ceasefire in 1999.