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Background

Berber tribal rule

The Western Sahara area has never formed a state in the modern sense of the word. Phoenician/Carthaginian colonies established or reinforced by Hanno the Navigator in the 6th century BC have vanished with virtually no trace. The increasing desertification of the Sahara made sporadic contact with the outside world almost impossible before the introduction of the camel into North Africa at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD.

Nomadic Berbers, mainly of the Sanhaja tribal confederation, inhabited the areas now known as Western Sahara, southern Morocco, Mauritania and western Algeria, before Islam arrived in the 8th century AD. The new faith achieved quick expansion, but Arab immigrants initially only blended superficially with the population, mostly confining themselves to the cities of present-day Morocco and Spain. However, they introduced the camel to the region, revolutionizing the traditional trade routes of North Africa. Caravans transported salt, gold and slaves between North Africa and West Africa, and the control of trade routes became a major ingredient in the constant power struggles between various tribes and sedentary peoples. On more than one occasion, the Berber tribes of Western Sahara/Mauritania would unite behind religious leaders to sweep the surrounding governments from power, then founding dynasties of their own. This was the case with the Almoravid dynasty of Morocco and Andalusia, and several emirates in Mauritania.

Arabization

In the 11th century, the Arab Beni Hilal and Beni Sulaym tribes emigrated westwards from Egypt (the Fatimid Caliphate) and gained control of most of present-day Morocco, but Western Sahara remained largely unpenetrated by the Arab advances. However, in the early 13th century, the Yemeni Maqil tribes migrated westwards across the entirety of Arabia and northern Africa, to finally settle around today's Morocco. They were badly received by the Zenata-Berber Merinid dynasty, and among the tribes pushed out of the territory, were the Beni Hassan.

This tribe entered the domains of the Sanhaja, and over the following centuries imposed itself upon them, intermixing with the population in the process, to produce the Arabo-Berber people now known as Sahrawis or, more commonly to describe the tribes of present-day Mauritania, Moors. Its Arabic dialect, the Hassaniya, remains the mother-tongue of Western Sahara and Mauritania. Berber vocabulary and cultural traits remain common, despite the fact that most if not all Sahrawi/Moorish tribes today claim Arab ancestry; several are even claiming to be descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, so-called sharifian tribes.

The Sahrawi tribes

The modern ethnic group is thus an Arabized Berber people inhabiting the westernmost Sahara desert, in the area of modern Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria and most notably the Western Sahara, with some tribes traditionally migrating into northern Mali and Niger. As with most Saharan peoples, the tribes reflect a highly mixed heritage, combining Arab, Berber, and other influences, including black African ethnic and cultural characteristics.

In pre-colonial times, the tribal areas of the Sahara desert was generally considered bled es-Siba or "the land of dissidence" by the authorities of the established Islamic states of North Africa, such as the Sultan of Morocco and the Deys of Algeria. The Islamic governments of the pre-colonial sub-Saharan empires of Mali and Songhai appear to have had a similar relationship with these territories, which were at once the home of undisciplined raiding tribes and the main trade route for the Saharan caravan trade. Central governments had little control over the region, although the Hassaniya tribes would occasionally extended "beya" or allegiance to prestigious neighbouring rulers, to gain their political backing or, in some cases, as a religious ceremony.

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 Sahrawi population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. Ma al-Aynayn started an uprising against the French in the 1910s, at a time when France had expanded its influence and control in North-West Africa. French forces finally beat him when he tried to conquer Marrakesh, but his sons and followers figured prominently in several rebellions which followed. 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-backed 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.

From 1973 the colonizers gradually lost control over the countryside to the armed guerrillas of the Polisario Front, a nationalist organization. Successive Spanish attempts to form loyal Sahrawi political institutions (such as the Djema'a and the PUNS party) to support its rule, and draw activists away from the radical nationalists, failed. As the health of the Spanish leader Francisco Franco deteriorated, the Madrid government slipped into disarray, and sought a way out of the Sahara conflict. The fall in 1974 of the Portuguese Estado Novo-government after unpopular wars in its own African provinces seems to have hastened the decision to pull out.

The Western Sahara conflict

Negotiations on withdrawal

In late 1975, Spain held meetings with Polisario leader El-Ouali, to negotiate the terms for a handover of power. But at the same time, Morocco and Mauritania began to put pressure on the Franco government: both countries argued that Spanish Sahara formed an historical part of their own territories. The United Nations became involved after Morocco asked for an opinion on the legality of its demands from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the UN also sent a visiting mission to examine the wishes of the population. The visiting mission returned its report on October 15, announcing "an overwhelming consensus" in favor of independence (as opposed to integration with Morocco or with Mauritania, or continued rule by Spain). The mission, headed by Simeon Aké, also declared that the Polisario Front seemed the main Sahrawi organization of the territory - the only rival arrangements to what the mission described as Polisario's "mass demonstrations" came from the PUNS, which by this time also advocated independence. Polisario then made further diplomatic gains by ensuring the backing of the main Sahrawi tribes and of a number of formerly pro-Spanish Djema'a elders at the Ain Ben Tili conference of October 12.

On October 16, the ICJ delivered its verdict. To the dismay of both the Rabat and Nouakchott governments, the court found with a clear majority, that the historical ties of these countries to Spanish Sahara did not grant them the right to the territory. Furthermore, the Court declared that the concept of terra nullius (un-owned land) did not apply to the territory. The Court declared that the Sahrawi population, as the true owners of the land, held a right of self-determination. In other words, any proposed solution to the situation (independence, integration etc), had to receive the explicit acceptance of the population in order to gain any legal standing. Neither Morocco nor Mauritania accepted this, and on October 31, 1975, Morocco sent its army into Western Sahara to attack Polisario positions. The public diplomacy between Spain and Morocco continued, however, with Morocco demanding bilateral negotiations over the fate of the territory.

On November 6, 1975 Morocco launched the so-called Green March into Western Sahara. 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara. As a result, Spain acceded to Moroccan demands, and entered bilateral negotiations. This led to the Madrid Agreement, a treaty that divided the territory between Morocco and Mauritania, in return for phosphate and fishing concessions to Spain. Spain and Morocco did not consult the Sahrawi population, and the Polisario violently opposed the treaty.

Moroccan-Mauritanian invasion

On November 14, 1975, Spain evacuated its forces, repatriating even the Spanish corpses from its cemeteries, although its mandate had not formally ended. Morocco and Mauritania invaded in full force, and caught the Polisario in a pincer movement. Heavy fighting ensued, and the Mauritanian army did not succeed in penetrating the territory until it had received Moroccan aid. During the fighting, tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees fled the advancing troops, heading for distant villages such as Tifariti and Guelta Zemmur. After aerial bombardments of the refugee columns in these locations, including with napalm *, most of the refugees continued across the border into Algeria. The Algerian government, which had begun backing the cause of Polisario in mid-1974, provided an area south of the city of Tindouf for setting up refugee camps. The Algerians left Polisario in charge of the area, and Polisario promptly made it its main base. The organization could now draw recruits from the refugees, and also added experienced fighters from former pro-Spanish militias and police forces; in addition to this, Algeria began pouring heavy armaments into the movement, and it rapidly transformed from a Bedouin raiding party into a modern fighting force.

Spain's formal mandate over the territory ended on February 26, 1976. The day after, the Polisario proclaimed in Bir Lehlou the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a government in exile. Meanwhile, Morocco proceeded to annex the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (as its Southern Provinces). Mauritania in its turn renamed the southern parts of Río de Oro as Tiris al-Gharbiyya, but proved unable to maintain control over the territory. Polisario made the weak Mauritanian army its main target, and after raids on the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott (where a gunshot killed El-Ouali, the first president of the SADR), Mauritania succumbed to internal unrest. The presence of a large number of Sahrawi nationalists among the country's dominant Moorish population made the Mauritanian government's position yet more fragile, and thousands of Mauritanian Sahrawis defected to Polisario. In 1978 the army seized control of the Mauritanian government and Polisario declared a cease-fire, on the assumption that Mauritania would withdraw unconditionally. This eventually occurred in 1979, as Mauritania's new rulers agreed to surrender all claims and to recognize the SADR. Following Mauritania's withdrawal, however, Morocco extended its control to the rest of the territory, and the war continued.

Through the 1980s, the war stalemated through the construction of the Moroccan Wall, but sporadic fighting continued, and Morocco faced heavy burdens due to the economic costs of its massive troop deployments along the Wall. To some extent aid sent by Saudi Arabia and by the USA relieved the situation in Morocco, but matters gradually became unsustainable for all parties involved. Intense criticism of alleged Moroccan human-rights violations in Western Sahara added to the kingdom's difficulties (for more on Sahrawi human rights, see human rights in Western Sahara).

The cease-fire

In 1991 Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed on a UN-backed cease-fire in the Settlement Plan. This plan, its further detail fleshed out in the 1997 Houston Agreement, hinged upon Morocco's agreement to a referendum on independence among the indigenous population. The plan intended this referendum to constitute their exercise of self-determination, thereby completing the territory's yet unfinished process of decolonization. The UN despatched a peace-keeping mission, the MINURSO, to oversee the cease-fire and make arrangements for the vote. Initially scheduled for 1992, the referendum has not taken place, due to the conflict over who has the right to vote. A second United Nations attempt to solve the conflict, James Baker's 2003 peace plan, though accepted by the Polisario, met rejection out-of-hand from Morocco, which had by then reneged on its promise to hold a referendum, declaring it "unnecessary".

The prolonged cease-fire has held without major disturbances, but Polisario has repeatedly threatened to resume fighting if no break-through occurs. Morocco's withdrawal from both the terms of the original Settlement Plan and the Baker Plan negotiations in 2003 left the peace-keeping mission without a political agenda: this further increased the risks of renewed war. Meanwhile, the gradual liberalization of political life in Morocco during the 1990s belatedly reached Western Sahara around 2000. This spurred political protest, as former "disappeared" and other human rights-campaigners began holding illegal demonstrations against Moroccan rule. The subsequent crackdowns and arrests drew media attention to the Moroccan occupation, and Sahrawi nationalists seized on the opportunity: in May 2005, a wave of demonstrations known by its participators as the Independence Intifada, broke out. These demonstrations, which continued as of June 2006 with greater intensity than any before in the territory, have engendered a new wave of interest in the conflict - as well as new fears of instability. Polisario has demanded international intervention, but declared that it could not stand idly by if the "escalation of repression" continues.

Timeline

- March 27 Allal al-Fassi delivers a speech calling for unification of Greater Morocco.
- April 7 Spain recognizes Morocco's full sovereignty.
- May Forces Armées Royales established.
- July 7 Map of Greater Morocco first appears in Istiqlal's daily newspaper Al-Alam.
- August Istiqlal endorses al-Fassi's claims at its first post-independence congress. - November 12 Morocco officially lays claim to Spanish Sahara, Ifni, and Mauritania at the United Nations. (see Spanish West Africa). - February 10 Beginning of fortnight-long Opération Ouragan, a joint Franco-Spanish offensive against Moroccan irregulars of the Army of Liberation operating in Spanish Sahara and in neighbouring French colonies.
- February 25 At M'hamid, Mohammed V first publicly endorses the Moroccan claim to the Sahara.
- April 1 Spain agrees to return Spanish Southern Morocco to Rabat. - November 28 Mauritania becomes independent from France.
- December 14 UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) signed. (Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples). - October 27 United Nations General Assembly votes to admit Mauritania, thus frustrating Morocco's claim.
  • 1962 - July Algeria achieves its independence from France.
- July-October Morocco attempts to occupy disputed border areas of Algeria by force.
- October 9 Algeria drives Moroccan forces from Tindouf.
  • 1963 - May First provincial elections held in Spanish Sahara.
- July 15 Three representatives of the Sahara take their seats at the Cortes Generales.
- October 1 Morocco again attempts to occupy Algerian border posts.
- November 4 The Organization of African Unity brokers a cease-fire that comes into effect between Morocco and Algeria.
  • 1964 - October The UN urges Spain to decolonize the Sahara.
  • 1965 - The second round of elections take place.
- Spain publicly announces the scale of Bou Craa phosphate deposits.
- December 16 The UN General Assembly first calls on Spain to decolonize the Sahara.
  • 1966 - Referendum held in which Saharawi endorse the Spanish occupation.
- December 20 UN General Assembly Resolution 2229 calls on Spain to hold a referendum on the future of the Sahara.
  • 1967 - Sahara's number of seats in the Cortes increases from three to six.
- May Djema'a set up with 82 members.
- July 14 - August 20 First elections to Djema'a.
- September 11 Djema'a inagurated in El Ayoun. - June 30 Ifni ceded to Morocco. - January Second round of elections for the Djema'a take place.
- July 10 Attempted military coup in Morocco. - June 5-19 At a session in Rabat the OAU echoes UN calls for a referendum.
- June 15 Morocco and Algeria sign a joint declaration of friendship, as border disputes settle.
- August 16 Second attempt at a military coup. - May 20 First Polisario attacks against the Spanish army.
- September 5-9 The Non-Aligned Movement, meeting in Algiers, endorses the UN resolutions.
- September 21 Francisco Franco announces that Spain will prepare the Sahara for internal autonomy.
- December 20 Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco, Franco's successor-apparent, by ETA.
  • 1974 - Spanish census, including the Saharan region.
- January 26 Spanish forces capture their first Polisario prisoners in an engagement at Guelb Lahmar.
- April Portuguese dictatorship overthrown following colonial wars.
- June 21-25 The fifth Islamic Summit endorses UN resolutions at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
- August 20 Spain announces it will hold a referendum in the first six months of 1975.
- August 25-31 Polisario announces the goal of full independence at its second congress.
- September 17 King Hassan announces that the Sahara question should go before the International Court of Justice.
- October 20 Polisario disable the Fosbucraa conveyor belt.
- October 26-29 Algerian premier Houari Boumédienne declares support for a Moroccan-Mauritanian partition plan.
- December Morocco convinces Spain to delay referendum until after the International Court of Justice ruling.
- December 13 The United Nations General Assembly approves a Moroccan resolution urging postponement of the planned referendum and requesting an International Court of Justice advisory opinion.
- December 17 Five Spanish soldiers killed in combat against Polisario.
  • 1975 - Algeria begins to oppose Moroccan policy on the Sahara.
- January 16 Spain announces that it will suspend the referendum and give evidence to the International Court of Justice.
- January 27 King Hassan asks the UN to examine the status of Ceuta and Melilla.
- February Algeria begins to train Polisario guerrillas.
- February 16 The pro-Spanish Saharawi party, Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS) officially registers.
- March First Polisario deaths in combat.
- May 10-11 Several Saharawi troops of the Tropas Nómadas (the Spanish-founded Saharawi paramilitary police force) desert to the Polisario.
- May 12-19 A UN mission of inquiry visits Sahara, Spain, Algeria, Mauritania, and Morocco.
- October 15 The mission publishes a report stating that an "overwhelming" majority of Saharawi favor independence, and that Polisario is by far the most important political movement of the territory.
- October 16 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara published. It contradicts Moroccan and Mauritanian claims to sovereignty over the Sahara and rejects the view of the territory as terra nullius (territory belonging to no-one) upon colonization; rather it belonged its inhabitants - the Sahrawis.
- October 28 Spanish end entente with Polisario; Saharawi tropps dismissed from Spanish army.
- October 31 Moroccan Forces Armées Royales (FAR) forces occupy outposts evacuated by Spain.
- November 2 Prince Juan Carlos vows to defend the Sahara from Moroccan invasion.
- November 6 Green March crosses border from Morocco; condemned by Algeria.
- November 9 Algeria excluded from tripartite talks.
- November 12 Resumption of tripartite talks.
- November 13 Last of Green Marchers return to Morocco, FAR forces remain.
- November 14 Tripartite Agreement (also known as Madrid Accords) signed by Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania.
- November 15 Polisario declares agreement null and void.
- November 19 Algeria also declares agreement null and void.
- November 20 Franco dies.
- November 25 King Hassan of Morocco announces that Morocco will freeze its claims to the Spanish-controlled enclaves until Spain recovers Gibraltar; Moroccan troops arrive in El Aiun.
- December 11 Polisario attacks conveyor belt for the first time since the accords.
- December 17 Mauritanian troops occupy Lagouira. - January 29 A Moroccan attack on Amgala, inside Western Sahara, kills dozens of Algerian soldiers.
- January Conveyor belt put out of action for six years.
- February French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing declares opposition to "microstates".
- February 26 Spanish troops complete withdrawal from the Sahara, two days early.
- February 27 Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) declared by Polisario, flag of Western Sahara raised.
- February 28 Madagascar becomes the first state to recognize the SADR.
- February-April Morocco uses napalm on refugees during bombing raids, refugees move into Algeria.
- March 6 SADR recognized by Algeria; Morocco and Mauritania break off relations with Algeria.
- April 14 Moroccan-Mauritanian partition treaty signed in Fés.
- April 19 Polisario's first attack on the Nouadhibou-Zouerate railway line inside Mauritania. Morocco captures Guelta Zemmour, the final Spanish outpost.
- April Polisario focuses efforts on Mauritania.
- June 9 Polisario Secretary-General El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed dies in attack on Nouakchott.
- August 26 Mohammed Abdelaziz elected Secretary-General during Polisario's third congress.
- September New Franco-Mauritanian military agreement signed.
  • 1977 February 17 Spanish-Moroccan fishing agreement signed; beginning of Polisario attacks on Spanish fishing vessels.
- May 1 Polisario attacked and held in Zouerate for over two hours, forcing French to evacuate and mining to come to a halt. Two French citizens killed.
- May 13 Mauritania signs a mutual defense pact with Morocco.
- July 3 Nouakchott attacked again, few Polisario casualties.
- July Moroccan troops airlifted into Zouerate to reinforce Mauritanians.
- October 25 Two French nationals seized during raid on railway.
- October 27 Giscard d'Estaing orders preparations for military action (Opération Lamantin) to begin.
- November 19 Talks for release of French citizens held by Polisario break down.
- December 2 First French airstrikes against Polisario columns in Mauritania.
- December 12 French aircraft use napalm on Polisario units and their Mauritanian prisoners after attack on railway.
- December 14 Spain announces an end to arms shipments to Morocco and Mauritania.
- December 18 Jaguar aircraft bomb Polisario column after attack on railway, killing 74 of 82 Mauritanian prisoners.
- December 23 French prisoners arrive back in Paris after Polisario released them to the UN. - May 3-5 French Jaguars attack Polisario in Zouerate.
- July 10 Military coup in Mauritania ends Moktar Ould Daddah's regime.
- July 12 The coup leader announces that the military will negotiate an end to conflict; Polisario announces a temporary halt to military operations in Mauritania.
- August Beginning of series of Polisario attacks against targets in southern Morocco. - May 1-5 OAU committee visits parties.
- May The U.S. State Department gives the U.S. company Northrop Page Communications the go-ahead to build a $200-million electronic detection-system to help Morocco detect Polisario fighters.
- July OAU Wise Men's Committee adopts the idea of a referendum.
- July 12 Polisario ends its year-long ceasefire with Mauritania, attacking Tichla in Tiris el-Gharbia.
- August 3 Beginning of peace-talks between Mauritania and Polisario.
- August 5 Mauritania and Polisario sign peace agreement in Algiers.
- August 14 Tiris el-Gharbia declared a Moroccan province.
- August 24 Polisario's most devastating attack on FAR, at Lebouirnate in southern Morocco. Nearly one thousand die; Polisario hold the town for over a year.
- October 9 Most northerly Polisario attack at M'Hamid in Draa valley.
- December 26 Last Moroccan troops leave Mauritania.
- December 27 Houari Boumédienne dies. - May 22 Polisario resumes attacks on Spanish boats fishing in Saharan waters.
- July 29 Moroccan aircraft attack Boulanour, Mauritania, in response to a Polisario attack on Guelta Zemmour.
  • 1981 January Spain withdraws boats from Saharawi waters due to Polisario attacks.
- March 2 First stretch of defensive wall (or berm) completed between Smara and the Zini Mountains.
- May 11 Berm extended to Bou Craa.
- June 20 Riots in Casablanca, between 66 and 637 killed by FAR.
- June 26 King Hassan of Morocco announces his willingness to co-operate with the OAU's plan for a referendum.
- August 31 SADR admitted to OAU.
- October-December FAR virtually paralyze Polisario after introducing ground-to-air missiles.
- November 7 FAR evacuate Guelta Zemmour, the largest garrison outside the berm.
- November 9 Evacuation of Bir Enxaren, the last garrison outside the so-called "useful triangle" (the region of Western Sahara with the most resources and infrastructure); Polisario hold five-sixths of Western Sahara.
- December 1 Following the election of François Mitterrand as President of France, Polisario open an office in Paris, .
  • 1982 - Over 130 U.S. military advisors work with the FAR, several of them seen in Western Sahara.
- January FAR begin to go on the offensive.
- May Berm reaches Atlantic Ocean.
- May 11 United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee prohibit U.S. military advisors from working in Western Sahara.
- October Partido Socialista Obrero Español (or PSOE, English: Socialist Workers Party of Spain), a Polisario-sympathetic party, win elections.
  • 1983 - Spanish-Moroccan fishing disputes settled by treaty.
- January 25 General Ahmed Dlimi, commander of Moroccan forces in the Sahara, dies in a mysterious car-accident after numerous rumors circulate of a coup attempt.
- February 26 Summit of Akid Lotfi, the first meeting of Algerian and Moroccan leaders since the start of the conflict.
- June New peace-plan launched by the OAU in a meeting in Addis Ababa.
- October 31 Deadline set by OAU for implementation of peace plan. - November 12 Admission of SADR to OAU after several stalled attempts; Morocco withdraws.
  • 1985 - September Start of revitalized UN role in Sahara.
- October 23 Morocco offers a cease-fire and a referendum under UN auspices.
- November 12 Morocco withdraws its offer of a referendum.
- December UN General Assembly Resolution 40/50 endorses the OAU's referendum plan. - August Treaty of Oujda abrogated.
- October 31 UN General Assembly Resolution 41/60 asks Pérez de Cuéllar to examine the idea of a referendum, with a view to implementing it.
  • 1987 - April 16 The Moroccan Armed Forces finish constructing the sixth section of the berm.
- May 4 Moroccan and Algerian leaders meet again at Akid Lotfi.
- November-December A UN-OAU tenchnical mission vists the region.
  • 1988 - January Polisario announce a temporary truce to facilitate the UN's work.
- May 4 Morocco and Algeria re-establish diplomatic relations.
- June Spain and Morocco sign a framework agreement covering commercial ties.
- July 12 - 22 Talks held between Moroccan and Saharawi delegates in Saudi Arabia.
- August 11 Pérez de Cuéllar proposes his Settlement Plan.
- August 30 Peace-Plan accepted by both sides.
- September 16 Polisario launch a heavy offensive against the FAR at Oum Dreiga.
- October The United Nations Committee on Decolonization passes a resolution calling for direct talks between Morocco and Polisario.
- November 20 The UN General Assembly passes a similar resolution.
- December King Hassan II announces that he would meet Saharawi nationalists for discussions.
  • 1989 - January 4-5 Kiung Hassan II meets Polisario leaders for the first time.
- January Polisario allowed to re-open an office in Madrid, improving ties with Spain. Later, Polisario announces that it will cease military actions in February.
- February Maghreb Arab Union (UMA) founded without SADR participation.
- May Morocco ratifies the 1972 Treaty of Ifrane, ending its border dispute with Algeria.
- September 21 King Hassan II declares no need for further discussion with Polisario.
- Autumn Conflict intensifies.
- September 24 Polisario launches a major new offensive against Moroccan positions.
- October-November Polisario attacks Guelta Zemmour, the Hawza section of the berm, and Amgala, causing heavy losses to FAR.
  • 1990 - Spring Moroccan-Algerian relations cool.
- March The independence of Namibia increases the UN's involvement with decolonization issues.
- Summer France becomes heavily involved with UN attempts to bring about negotiations.
- June 18 UN Peace-Plan made public, detailed plan presented.
- June 27 The Security Council calls on both sides to co-operate with UN attempts to resolve the conflict, unanimously supporting the Secretary-General.
- June UN-sponsored meeting of Saharawi tribal leaders in Geneva, Switzerland. Meanwhile, the Islamic Salvation Front wins local Algerian elections.
- July A UN technical team visits the region to lay grounds for referendum.
- August Morocco sends troops to fight against Iraq in the Gulf War. - April 29 UN Security Council Resolution 690 approves the establishment of MINURSO.
- September 6 Provisional date for cease-fire.
- December 19 Pérez de Cuéllar proposes changes to voter criteria, viewed as a capitulation to Moroccan demands. - July Direct talks held between Morocco and Polisario. - June 11-12 Baker holds first talks with both sides separately in London.
- June 23-25 First official face-to-face talks held between Morocco and Polisario in Lisbon.
- September Houston Accords apparently break impasse.
- December Identification process re-started.
  • 1998 - September 3 Voter identification nearly completed, except for three contested tribes.
- November 7-15 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visits Maghrebi countries in a search for a solution.
  • 1999 - June 15 Identification Committee begins to look at contested tribes.
- July Death of King Hassan II. His son King Mohammed VI succeeds to the throne.
- July 15 Beginning of appeals process for voters.
- November Driss Basri sacked as Minister of the Interior of Morocco.
- December Completion of voter lists. - June 28 Further talks in London end without agreement.
- July Talks in Geneva break down.
- December 22 Polisario threatens to resume the war if the Paris Dakar Rally crosses Saharan territory from Morocco without applying for permission from the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
  • 2001 - March Talks aimed at setting a date for the first meeting of heads of state of UMA countries since 1995 break down after arguments between Algerian and Moroccan diplomats over the Sahara.
- May 16 Morocco announces that it had presented a plan for Saharan autonomy to the UN.
- June 22 The UN presents the Framework Agreement for autonomy.
- December 2 French President Jacques Chirac of France describes the Sahara as Morocco's Southern Provinces.
  • 2002 - February 19 Kofi Annan presents the Security Council with four options to break the impasse in the Sahara: referendum, autonomy, partition, or complete withdrawal.
- March MINURSO's total expenditure exceeds $500 million.
- July The Security Council votes to extend the mandate of MINURSO.
  • 2003 - January James Baker announces the "new Baker Plan", the Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara. It describes a proposed Western Sahara Authority to administer the territory autonomously until the holding of a referendum in 2007 or in 2008. In a surprise move, the Polisario accepts the document as a basis of negotiations; Morocco stalls for several months, but eventually rejects the plan, stating that the kingdom will no longer accept independence as one of the ballot options.
- July UN Security Council Resolution 1495 announces support for Baker's latest plan, and extends the mandate of MINURSO to January 31 2004.
  • 2004 - January MINURSO extended until April.
- April The UN extends MINURSO's mandate for another year.
- June 11 James Baker resigns: Peruvian Alvari de Soto takes his place.
- August Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Foreign Minister of Spain, vows that Spain will support the Baker Plan.
- September 15 South Africa recognizes the SADR. - May 25 An intifada (or uprising) begins in the cities of El Aiun and Smara, and student uprisings occur in Moroccan universities. Reports circulate of police brutality and of the kidnapping of peaceful demonstrators.
- June 25 Kenya gives full recognition to the SADR.
- July 27 Dutch ambassador Peter Van Walsum confirmed as James Baker's replacement.
- August 17 Announcement that the SADR will release all 404 of the Moroccan prisoners-of-war.
- December 27 Sudan becomes the first state to support Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.*
Oktober 2005 to Februari 2006 Peter van Walsum consulted Polisario Algeria, Morocco and other countries. On April 19 his report was published. No agreement was reached. - December 28 Uruguay recognizes the SADR. The UN-security counsel has prolonged the mandate of the MINURSO-mission until 2006 Oktober 31. The above text derives in part from the unpublished paper The Western Sahara: A Case Study by John Carthy, written for the University of Portsmouth, with permission.

External links

Sources for timeline:

History of Morocco | History of Western Sahara

Westsaharakonflikt | Historia del Sahara Occidental | Histoire du Sahara occidental

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "History of Western Sahara".

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