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- <text id=93CT1915>
- <title>
- Western Sahara--History
- </title>
- <history>
- Compact ALMANAC--CIA Factbook
- Northern Africa
- Western Sahara
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>CIA World Factbook</source>
- <hdr>
- History
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p> The Western Sahara, scene of a decade-long conflict between
- the Polisario and Morocco, comprises 267,028 square kilometers
- (102,703 sq. mi.)--an area about the size of Colorado--of
- wasteland and desert, bordered on the north by Morocco, on the
- west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east and south by Mauritania,
- and for a few kilometers on the east by Algeria. From 1904 until
- 1975, Spain occupied the entire territory, which is divided into
- a northern portion, the Saguia el Hamra, and the southern
- two-thirds, known as Rio de Oro. Calls for the decolonization
- of these territories began in the 1960s, first from the
- surrounding nations and then from the United Nations.
- </p>
- <p> The discovery of phosphates in Bou Craa in the Saguia el
- Hamra heightened demands for Spanish withdrawal from the
- territory. Morocco's occupation after Spain's 1975 withdrawal
- has led to armed conflict between Morocco and the Polisario, an
- organization that had begun fighting from bases in the region of
- Tindouf, Algeria, since 1975.
- </p>
- <p> Morocco's claim to sovereignty over the Western Sahara is
- based largely on the historical argument of traditional loyalty
- of the Saharan tribal leaders to the Moroccan sultan as
- spiritual leader and ruler. The International Court of Justice,
- to which the issue was referred, delivered its opinion in 1975
- that while historical ties exist between the inhabitants of the
- Western Sahara and Morocco, they are insufficient to establish
- Moroccan sovereignty.
- </p>
- <p> The Polisario claims to represent the aspirations of the
- Western Saharan inhabitants for independence. Algeria claims
- none of the territory for itself but maintains that a popular
- referendum on self-determination should determine the
- territory's future status. In 1969, the Polisario Front
- (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio
- de Oro) was formed to combat Spanish colonization. After the
- Spanish left and the Moroccans and, initially, the Mauritanians
- moved in, the Polisario turned its guerrilla operations against
- them.
- </p>
- <p> In November 1975, 350,000 unarmed Moroccan citizens staged
- what came to be called the "Green March" into the Western
- Sahara. The march was designed to both demonstrate and
- strengthen Moroccan claims to the territory. On November 9,
- 1975, King Hassan requested that the marchers withdraw. On
- November 14, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania announced a
- tripartite agreement for an interim administration under which
- Spain agreed to share administrative authority with Morocco and
- Mauritania, leaving aside the question of sovereignty. With the
- establishment of a Moroccan and Mauritanian presence throughout
- the territory, however, Spain's role in the administration of
- the Western Sahara ceased altogether. Mauritania withdrew from
- the territory in 1978 after several defeats by the Polisario.
- </p>
- <p> Mauritania signed a peace treaty with the Polisario in
- Algiers in 1979 renouncing all claims and vacating the
- territory. Thereupon, Moroccan troops occupied the vacated
- region, and tribal leaders pledged allegiance to King Hassan.
- Later, local elections and the election of representatives to
- the National Assembly took place and Morocco proclaimed the
- area reintegrated into Morocco. It has since built
- fortifications that control about three-fourths of the Western
- Sahara and protect the economic and population centers,
- including the phosphate mine at Bou Craa.
- </p>
- <p> Efforts to end the war continue. At the Organization of
- African Unity (OAU) summit in June 1981, King Hassan announced
- his willingness to hold referendum in the Western Sahara. He
- took this decision, he explained, in deference to African and
- other leaders who had urged him to permit a referendum as the
- accepted way to settle such issues. Subsequent meetings of an
- OAU Implementation Committee have proposed a cease-fire, a UN
- peacekeeping force, and an interim administration to assist with
- an OAU-UN-supervised referendum on the issue of independence or
- annexation. In 1984, the OAU seated a delegation of the Sahara
- Democratic Arab Republic (SDAR), the shadow government of the
- Polisario; consequently, Morocco withdrew from the OAU. UN
- resolutions on the Western Sahara have closely paralleled those
- of the OAU. Domestically, King Hassan's agreement in 1981 to
- hold a referendum evoked criticism from Morocco's socialist
- party (USFP), leading to the arrest and conviction at that time
- of USFP leaders for actions considered detrimental to national
- security and public order. In New York, the opening of indirect
- negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario in April 1986
- gave new impetus to the possibility of a negotiated solution.
- </p>
- <p> Progress has been substantial since the restoration of
- diplomatic relations with Algeria in May 1988, which marked a
- fundamental realignment of intra-Maghrebian relations. In late
- August 1988, Moroccan and Polisario representatives, meeting
- separately with UN officials, agreed on a peace plan proposed by
- UN Secretary General Perez de Cuellar. The Secretary General
- then named Uruguayan diplomat Hector Gros Espiell as his Special
- Representative for the Western Sahara. As Gros Espiell began his
- work, it was announced that King Hassan had met in early January
- 1989 in Marrakech with Polisario representatives to hear their
- views on the Western Sahara, raising hopes that an agreement
- would soon be forthcoming.
- </p>
- <p> The United States has consistently supported efforts to end
- the war through negotiations between the concerned parties
- leading to a cease-fire and referendum. While recognizing
- Morocco's administrative control of the Western Sahara, the
- United States has not endorsed Morocco's claims of sovereignty
- there. It is the U.S. position that a political solution to the
- Western Sahara should take into account the views of its
- inhabitants.
- </p>
- <p>Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs,
- March 1989.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-