The
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic with an exiled government seated earlier in
Tindouf,
Algeria, administered Bir Lehlou as the temporary capital of the SADR, as long as the
Sahrawi capital of
El-Aaiun is under
Moroccan control. For example, it had been the scenario of reunions of SADR's National Secretariat. This is also from where the republic's existence was proclaimed over radio on the night of February 27, 1976, by its first president,
El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed. Some sources list also Bir Lehlou as El-Ouali's birthplace. Since late 1975,
Radio Nacional de la Republica Árabe Saharaui Democrática (National Radio of the SADR) had broadcast from there on both medium and short wave, webcasting the programming in
Hassaniya Arabic, and also some hours in
Spanish. On May 20, 2005, coinciding with the 32nd anniversary of the beginning of the armed struggle of the Polisario Front, a primary school was inaugurated in Bir Lehlou. The school was named "
José Ramón Diego Aguirre" (Spanish colonel and historian, first foreigner to be awarded with the Sahrawi honorific nationality) in his honour. On February 27, 2010, Bir Lehlou hosted the 34th anniversary of the proclamation of the SADR, with the presence of several African and South American ambassadors. On October 12, 2011, during the 36th National Unity Day celebrations, the commander of the Sahrawi 5th military region, Hama Salama, inaugurated an extension of the town's school, as well as a mosque.
Climate change A 2019 paper published in
PLOS One estimated that under
Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5, a "moderate" scenario of
climate change where global warming reaches ~ by 2100, the climate of Bir Lehlou in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of
Kuwait. The annual temperature would increase by , and the temperature of the warmest month by , while the temperature of the coldest month would increase by . According to
Climate Action Tracker, the current warming trajectory appears consistent with , which closely matches RCP 4.5. ==International relations==