Tensions flare in Western Sahara dispute
One word used by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was all it took to reignite tensions over disputed territory in northwest Africa.
TINDOUF, Algeria — Tempers are heating up in Western Sahara. Despite a quarter-century of negotiations aimed at settling the dispute between Morocco and the indigenous Sahrawi people of Western Sahara, Moroccan authorities expelled UN personnel this week after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the situation there as an "occupation."
A war of words threatens the 25-year cease-fire. The two rivals in the mineral-rich North African territory have been under continuous UN mediation in an effort to reach a political solution since 1991. At that time, the UN Security Council promised the Sahrawi people the right to vote on whether to be a part of Morocco or to become an independent state (the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic). The Sahrawis are saying that Morocco, by expelling the UN representatives, has left them with no choice but to take up arms again.
The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara — known by its French acronym, MINURSO — was assigned to organize a referendum for the Sahrawi people when Morocco and the Polisario Front (the Sahrawi independence movement) agreed on the 1991 cease-fire. The UN maintained peace, but has not found common ground for the adversaries. The Polisario Front has been calling for the vote for independence, while Morocco says that its autonomy proposal is the most it can offer.
The Sahrawi people, who live in southwest Algeria refugee camps controlled by the Polisario Front, received UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on March 5. Ban expressed his desire to bring the two parties back to the negotiation table. According to Ban’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, the visit focused largely on the humanitarian aspects of the situation.
