Talks Resume in August
Talks on the future of the West Sahara are to resume in August. Morocco holds the diplomatic initiative in its meetings with the Polisario. The two met in the United States earlier this month to try to reach an agreement in resolving the oldest territorial conflict in Africa. Algerian backed, Polisario, wants full independence while Morocco has offered to make the area an autonomous region. Morocco’s plan would give the Sahrawi people control over their own affairs through legislative, judicial, and executive institutions while Rabat would hold sovereignty. The United Nations has sponsored and encouraged such talks to be held without preconditions for self determination.
Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, said that the OIC understands Morocco’s position. He also encouraged the neighboring countries to end their disputes peacefully. The OIC, urges both sides to keep up the dialogue under the United Nations auspices. .
West Sahara, located on the Atlantic coast, has a population of approximately 260,000 people, rich phosphate deposits and fishing resources. It, also, has the potential to be an oil producing area.
Morocco annexed the area when Spain ended colonial rule and withdrew in 1975. This has caused tensions between Morocco and its neighbor, Algeria with guerilla warfare breaking out. Although a ceasefire was reached in 1991, a referendum on the fate of the disputed region was never held. Many Sahrawi people are still in refugee camps in Algeria. Morocco would like to bring this issue to closure with an acceptable political solution.
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December 3rd, 2007 at 9:32 am
[…] has been working to neutralize land mines placed in its southern provinces by the Polisario separatists. Nearly, 66,000 landmines have been disarmed by the Kingdom. In this year alone, nearly […]