LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Western Sahara Conflict: Southern Morocco
built 656 days ago
The conflict in Western Sahara has its origins in the failure of the former colonial power, Spain, to grant independence to the territory it called Spanish Sahara, in its withdrawal from the colony in November 1975. With the support of the United States, Spain signed the Tripartite Agreement with Morocco and Mauritania and handed the territory over to them, an act which violated both existing resolutions already adopted by the United Nations and established principles of international law. Under fire from invading Moroccan and Mauritanian troops, the Polisario Front successfully evacuated tens of thousands of Sahrawis to camps in neighboring southwestern Algeria.
Source:
The United Nations proposed plebiscite in Western Sahara, which has been put off repeatedly since 1991, was recently scheduled by the United Nations for July 31, 2000. Voters in the former Spanish colony are to choose between independence and being part of Morocco, which annexed the territory in 1975. It is interesting to examine the second part of the provisional list of voters by the UN mission on Western Sahara, Minurso (Mission d' Observation des Nations Unies pour le Referendum au Sahara Occidentale). Of the 51,220 applicants from the three 'contested’ tribes, 2,130 individuals were recognised as having the right to vote. Added to the first list of 84,251 voters, the total number of voters is 86,381 out of about 200,000 auditioned applicants. The most contentious issue is the identity of 65,000 applicants who Morocco claims are indigenous people with the right to vote.
Source:
The conflict in Western Sahara is Africa's longest-running struggle for decolonization and national self-determination. In June 1990, the two adversariesthe Polisario Front (the nationalist movement of the Sahrawi people, founded in 1973) and the Kingdom of Moroccoaccepted a U.N. sponsored peace plan. A cease-fire was established in the disputed territory on September 6, 1993. However, the referendum that was scheduled to take place by February 1992, to allow the Sahrawis to decide whether they want an independent state or to be integrated into Morocco, has still not been held.
Source:
The conflict over Western Sahara between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, a rebel movement striving for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco, has been on the agenda of the UN Security Council since 1991. The settlement plan that came into effect that year envisaged a referendum on self-determination for the people of Western Sahara with the choice of either integration with Morocco or independence. This "win or lose" approach is responsible for the "take no prisoners," zero-sum attitude adopted by both sides ever since. It has caused both parties to miss opportunities for a solution that would have allowed each to get some of what it wanted while allowing the other to save face. It has ... paralyzed the UN from taking decisive action that could have resolved the conflict.
Source:
The United Nations has been actively involved in attempts to settle the Western Sahara conflict since 1974 when Spain asked the international organisation to supervise a referendum to take place shortly after. In May 1975, the UN sent a fact-finding mission to the territory that found an overwhelming consensus in favour of independence and opposing integration within any neighbouring country. However, Morocco tried to forestall the referendum by referring the issue to the International Court of Justice. The Court advised in favour of the right of self-determination by the Sahrawi people in 1975.
Source:
Contention over the control of Western Sahara began on the eve of Spain's withdrawal in February 1976. The main protagonists were Morocco, which claimed the territory as an integral part of its historical patrimony, and the Algerian-backed POLISARIO independence movement. Algeria's patronage of POLISARIO was rooted in its larger geopolitical and ideological clash with Morocco. The dispute poisoned their bilateral relations and for a time held out the specter of Algerian - Moroccan fighting. Mauritania, the weakest of the states bordering Western Sahara, initially occupied part of the territory as well but was forced to disengage and then maintain a vulnerable neutrality.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Southern Morocco