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Western Sahara conflict
Gathering of Saharawi troops, near Tifariti (Western Sahara), celebrating the 32nd anniversary ot the Polisario Front (2005).
Date 1975 –present Location Western Sahara, Morocco, Mauritania Result Spanish withdraw under the Madrid Accords (1976) Mauritanian retreat under the Algiers Agreement (1979) Cosolidation of Sahrawi refugee camps in Algere Polisario Front - Morocco ceasefire (1991) Construction of the Western Sahara Berm Continuing violent protests
Belligerents
Morocco Mauritania (1975–1979) France (1977-78)	Polisario Front Algeria (1976) Libya (1975-1984)
Commanders and leaders
Hassan II Ahmed Dlimi Abdelaziz Bennani Mokhtar Ould Daddah Mustafa Ould Salek Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	Mohamed Abdelaziz El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed † Lahbib Ayoub Brahim Ghali Houari Boumediène (1976) Muammar Gaddafi (1975-84)
Strength
Morocco: 30,000 (1976) - 150,000 (1988) Mauritania: 3,000-5,000 (1976) - 18,000 (1978)	5,000 (1976)
Casualties and losses
Morocco: 7,000, - 15,000 soldiers killed ; 2,155 - 2,300 captured Mauritania: 2,000 soldiers killed	1,000 - 4,000 combatants killed; 200 captured
Civilian Casualties: 3,000 killed (Eckhardt,1985), 650 missing. 18-38 killed; 173-738 injured (2010 protests) 40,000 (1976) - 80,000 (1977) refugees

The Western Sahara conflict or the Polisario Front dispute for Independence is an ongoing conflict, developed from past armed confrontation between the Polisario Front and Morocco into current unarmed civil campaigns of Sahrawi people to gain independence for Western Sahara. The conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords. The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria and Libya engaged into a 16 year war against Mauritania and Morocco. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict and a cease-fire agreement was reached with Morocco in 1991, with most of the territory is under Moroccan control.

The conflict reemerged as the Independence Intifada in 2005, a Saharawi Polisario activist coinage for a series of disturbances, demonstrations and riots that broke out in May 2005 in the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara. In late 2010, the protests re-erupted in Gdeim Izik camp in Western Sahara. While the protests were initially peaceful, they were later marked by clashes between civilians and security forces, resulting in dozens of causalties. Another series of protests began on 26 February 2011, as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. The protests were related to the earlier Gdeim Izik protest camp, the previous fall, which had resulted in violence between Sahrawi activists and Moroccan security forces and supporters. 2011 protests largely dimmed by May 2011.

To date, large parts of Western Sahara are controlled by the Moroccan Government, and related as southern Moroccan provinces, whereas some 20-25% of the Western Sahara territory are controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the Polisario controlled state with limited recognition. Issues of mutual recognition, establishment of the Sahrawi state and solution to the Sahrawi refugees problem are among the key issues of the Western Sahara peace process.

Background

Spanish Sahara

Main article: Spanish Sahara

In 1884 Spain claimed a protectorate over the coast from Cape Bojador to Cap Blanc. Later, the Spanish extended their area of control. In 1958 Spain joined the previously separate districts of Saguia el-Hamra (in the north) and Río de Oro (in the south) to form the province of Spanish Sahara.

Raids and rebellions by the indigenous Saharan population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. Ma al-Aynayn the Saharan pro-Moroccan caïd of Tindouf and Smara named by the Moroccan sultan started an uprising against the French in the 1910s, at a time when France had expanded its influence and control in North-West Africa, he died in the same year and his son El Hiba succeded him. French forces defeated him, when he tried to conquer Marrakesh, and in retaliation destroyed the holy city of Smara in 1913. Not until the second destruction of Smara in 1934, by joint Spanish and French forces, did the territory finally become subdued. Another uprising in 1956 - 1958, initiated by the Moroccan Army of Liberation, led to heavy fighting, but eventually the Spanish forces regained control, again with French aid. However, unrest simmered, and in 1967 the Harakat Tahrir arose to challenge Spanish rule peacefully. After the events of the Zemla Intifada in 1970, when Spanish police destroyed the organization and "disappeared" its founder, Muhammad Bassiri, Sahrawi nationalism again took a militant turn.

Conception of the Polisario Front

In 1971 a group of young Sahrawi students in the universities of Morocco began organizing what came to be known as The Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro. After attempting in vain to gain backing from several Arab governments, including both Algeria and Morocco, but only drawing faint notices of support from Libya and Mauritania, the movement eventually relocated to Spanish-controlled Western Sahara to start an armed rebellion.

The beginnings of armed struggle

The Polisario Front was formally constituted on 10 May 1973 in the Mauritanian city of Zouirate, with the express intention of militarily forcing an end to Spanish colonization. Its first Secretary General was El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed. On 20 May he led the Khanga raid, Polisario's first armed action, in which a Spanish post manned by a team of Tropas Nomadas (Sahrawi-staffed auxiliary forces) was overrun and rifles seized. Polisario then gradually gained control over large swaths of desert countryside, and its power grew from early 1975 when the Tropas Nomadas began deserting to the Polisario, bringing weapons and training with them. At this point, Polisario's manpower included perhaps 800 men, but they were backed by a larger network of supporters. A UN visiting mission headed by Simeon Aké that was conducted in June 1975 concluded that Sahrawi support for independence (as opposed to Spanish rule or integration with a neighbouring country) amounted to an "overwhelming consensus" and that the Polisario Front was by far the most powerful political force in the country.

Conflict

Western Sahara War

The Western Sahara War was an armed conflict, lated between 1975 - 1991, primarily between the Polisario Front and Morocco. The conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara, in accordance with the Madrid Accords, by which it gave administrative control of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania. The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria and Libya desired to establish an independent state in the territory, successively fought Mauritania and Morocco. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict and a cease-fire agreement was reached with Morocco in 1991. The war resulted in 14,000-21,000 fatalities, and some 40,000-80,000 Sahrawi refugees, housed to date in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf province of Algeria.

Independence Intifada

The Independence Inttifada was a Saharawi Polisario activist coinage for a series of disturbances, demonstrations and riots that broke out in May 2005 in the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara. This event has also been called "The El-Aaiun Intifada" . International coverage of the disturbances has been limited because restrictions placed by the Moroccan authorities on international journalists, and Moroccan official sources have downplayed the events.

Gdeim Izik and 2011 protests

Main articles: Gdeim Izik protest camp and 2011 Sahrawi protests

The Gdeim Izik protest camp was established in Western Sahara on 9 October 2010 and lasted into November, with related incidents occurring in the aftermath of its dismantlement on 8 November 2010. While protests were initially peaceful, they were later marked by clashes between civilians and security forces, ending with dozens killed and hundreds injured.

In 2011, new protests erupted since 26 February, as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. They were related to the Gdeim Izik protest camp in Western Sahara established the previous fall, which had resulted in violence between Sahrawi activists and Moroccan security forces and supporters. The protests also purportedly drew inspiration from the Arab Spring and successful revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, The 2011 protests dimmed by May 2011.

Western Sahara peace process

Further information: Politics of Western Sahara and Western Sahara peace process

Cease fire

The cease fire, ending the hostilities of the Western Sahara War were officially signed in 1991, and attempts were made since to resolve the conflict, though no solution has been achieved to date.

Referendum and Houston agreement

Main articles: Settlement Plan, Houston Agreement, and MINURSO

The referendum, originally scheduled for 1992, foresaw giving the local population the option between independence or affirming integration with Morocco, but it quickly stalled. In 1997, the Houston Agreement attempted to revive the proposal for a referendum, but likewise has hitherto not had success. As of 2010, however, negotiations over terms have not resulted in any substantive action. At the heart of the dispute lies the question of who qualifies to be registered to participate in the referendum, and, since about 2000, Morocco considers that since there is no agreement on persons entitled to vote, a referendum is not possible,meanwhile Polisario still attached with insistence to the referendum with independence as a clear option, without trying to give a solution to the problem of who is qualified to be registered to participate in the referendum.

Both sides blame each other for the stalling of the referendum. The Polisario has insisted on only allowing those found on the 1974 Spanish Census lists (see below) to vote, while Morocco has insisted that the census was flawed by evasion and sought the inclusion of members of Sahrawi tribes which escape from Spanish invasion to the north of Morocco by the 19th century.

Efforts by the UN special envoys to find a common ground for both parties did not succeed. By 1999 the UN had identified about 85,000 voters, with nearly half of them in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara or Southern Morocco, and the others scattered between the Tindouf refugee camps, Mauritania and other places of exile. Polisario accepted this voter list, as it had done with the previous list presented by the UN (both of them originally based on the Spanish census of 1974), but Morocco refused and, as rejected voter candidates began a mass-appeals procedure, insisted that each application be scrutinized individually. This again brought the process to a halt.

According to a NATO delegation, MINURSO election observers stated in 1999, as the deadlock continued, that "if the number of voters does not rise significantly the odds were slightly on the RASD side". By 2001, the process had effectively stalemated and the UN Secretary-General asked the parties for the first time to explore other, third-way solutions. Indeed, shortly after the Houston Agreement (1997), Morocco officially declared that it was "no longer necessary" to include an option of independence on the ballot, offering instead autonomy. Erik Jensen, who played an administrative role in MINURSO, wrote that neither side would agree to a voter registration in which they were destined to lose.

Baker plan

The Baker Plan (formally, Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara) was a United Nations initiative, led by James Baker, to grant self-determination to Western Sahara, formulated in 2000. It was intended to replace the Settlement Plan of 1991 and the Houston Agreement of 1997. Since early 2005, the UN Secretary General has not referred to the plan in his reports, and by now it seems largely dead. No replacement plan exists, however, and worries persist that the political vacuum will result in renewed fighting. Morocco has proposed autonomy for the territory as a final solution to the conflict.

Moroccan initiative and Manhasset negotiations

Main articles: Moroccan Initiative for Western Sahara, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754, and Manhasset negotiations

In 2006 the Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) has proposed a plan for the autonomy of Western Sahara and made visits to a number of countries to explain the proposal. The Spanish approach to regional autonomy has been named as a possible model for Western Saharan autonomy, mentioning specifically the cases of the Canary Islands, the Basque Country, Andalusia or Catalonia. The plan was presented to the UN Security Council in April 2007, and has received the backing of the USA and France. In a letter to president Bush, 173 members of US congress endorsed the plan. This initiative constituted the main ground for the Moroccan proposal at Manhasset negotiations.

In 2007-2008, the parties engaged in the Manhasset negotiations at Manhasset, New York. The talks between the Moroccan government and the representatives of the Saharawi liberation movement, the Polisario Front, to resolve the Western Sahara conflict were considered the first direct negotiations in seven years between the two parties. Also present at the negotiations were the neighboring countries of Algeria and Mauritania.

The negotiations were a result of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1754 of April 30, 2007 which urged both parties to "enter into direct negotiations without preconditions and in good faith." The resolution also stipulated the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) mission extension until October 31, 2007.

The first round of talks took place on June 18-19, 2007, during which both parties agreed to resume talks on August 10-11. The second round ended with no breakthroughs but parties agreed again to meet for another round though no date has been fixed yet. During the last round which took place between January 8 and 9, 2008, parties agreed on "the need to move into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations". A fourth round of talks was held from 18 March to 19 March 2008. The negotiations were being supervised by Peter van Walsum, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's personal envoy for Western Sahara.

Current situation

Polisario controlled areas

Main articles: Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Sahrawi refugee camps

The Polisario controlls about 20-25% of the Western Sahara territory, as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR'), which is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. Polisario calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone, while Morocco controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR held territory to be a buffer zone.

In addition, the Polisario have a full autonomous control of the Sahrawi refugee camps. The refugee camps were set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975-76 for Sahrawi refugees, fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Western Sahara during the Western Sahara War. With most refugees still living in the camps, the refugee situation is among the most protracted ones worldwide. Most affairs and camp life organization is run by the refugees themselves, with little outside interference.

The Western Sahara Berm

Main article: Moroccan Wall

The Berm of Western Sahara (Moroccan Wall) is an approximately 2,700 km-long defensive structure, mostly a sand wall, running through Western Sahara and the southeastern portion of Morocco. It de-facto acts as a separation barrier between the Moroccan-controlled areas and the Polisario-controlled section of the territory (SADR), that lies along its eastern and southern border. According to maps from MINURSO or the UNHCR, part of the wall extends several kilometers into internationally recognized Mauritanian territory. The Wall is often related as an aparteid wall, depreiving the Sahrawis of their sovereign rights and a humanitarian disaster.

Human rights in Western Sahara

Main article: Human rights in Western Sahara

The Western Sahara conflict has resulted in severe human rights abuses, most notably the aerial bombardments with Napalm & White phosphorus of the Sahrawi refugee camps, the consequently exodus of tens of thousands of Sahrawi civilians from the country, and the forced expropriation and expulsion of tens of thousands of Moroccan civilians by the Algerian government from Algeria in reaction to the Green March, as well as violations of human rights and serious breaches of the Geneva convention by the Polisario Front, the Moroccan government and the Algerian government.

See also

• Ifni War

External links

• Chronology of the Saharawi struggle (BBC)