LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Western Sahara Conflict: United Nations
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Regardless of how one qualifies it, the recent turmoil in the Western Saharan territories raises concerns about the prospects for the resolution of the conflict in the near future. While the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) are preoccupied with Sudan/Darfur and Côte d’Ivoire, other conflicts are unfolding on the continent, and the example of Western Sahara is a case in point.
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In April 2003, the France Libertés foundation led an international mission of inquiry on the conditions of detention of Moroccan prisoners of war long held by the Polisario in the refugee camps in Algeria and in Polisario-held parts of Western Sahara. The prisoners (under Red Cross supervision since the 80s) had been held since the end of hostilities, awaiting the conclusion of a formal peace treaty, but as the cease-fire dragged on over a decade, many prisoners had at this time been held between 15 and 20 years, making them among the longest-serving POWs in the world. Polisario had begun releasing a few hundred prisoners at a time in the early 1990s, in what they referred to as "humanitarian gestures", but its refusal to release the last prisoners remained under criticism from the United Nations.[42]
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U.S. imperialism and its feudal client state Morocco have long attempted to hold back the process of national liberation in Western Sahara. The Indian government had recognised the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in 1985. About seventy countries at present give recognition to SADR. A rude blow was recently given by the Indian government to the peoples of Western Sahara by the derecognition of the SADR on the eve of the meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. This was a concession to the pressure long exerted by the Moroccan government in return for anticipated support for the Indian government’s stand on the Kashmir question — the Indian state as is known denies the democratic right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination and secession.
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For the George W. Bush administration, Morocco's role in the "war on terror" was more important than supporting Baker in Western Sahara. The same month Baker resigned, Morocco won major non-NATO ally status and a free trade agreement from Washington. Elliott Abrams, head of Middle Eastern affairs in the National Security Council, is most likely the lead cheerleader in the White House for Western Saharan autonomy. Indeed, Moroccan expectations that the United States would support a unilaterally implemented autonomy had echoes of American support for Israeli unilateralism in the occupied Palestinian territories.
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"As the leader of the Free World, President George Bush's leadership is needed to resolve the Western Sahara conflict," Scholte said. "After over $530 million expenditures and nine years of broken promises, the United Nations has failed to deliver on the referendum over Western Sahara. Now, they seem to be advocating a third solution that is totally against
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In April 2007 the government of Morocco has suggested that a self-governing entity, through the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), should govern the territory with some degree of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project was presented to the United Nations Security Council in mid-April 2007. The stalemating of the Moroccoan proposal options has led the UN in the recent "Report of the UN Secretary-General" to ask the parties to enter into direct and unconditional negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara (13 April 2007)(ped). UN Security Council. Retrieved on 2007-05-18.
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