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87-756: It was first created by Polisario Front members and Sahrawi tribal notables as the Provisionary National Council in April or November 1975, after the proclamation of Guelta Zemmur . On February 27, 1976, POLISARIO leader El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed announced that the Council had declared the creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, of which it became the first parliament. On the POLISARIO's III General Popular Congress (August 26–30, 1976),

174-471: A deal with Israel to build two factories to produce war drones with Israeli supervision and expertise. These factories, once completed, will allow Morocco to manufacture advanced drones at a low cost compared to those it had been buying from China and Turkey . Morocco reportedly used a Chinese-made Wing Loong Is , among a few given as a gift from the United Arab Emirates , to kill Addah al-Bendir,

261-459: A division of powers, instead concentrating most of the decision-making power in the top echelons of Polisario for maximum battlefield efficiency. This meant that most power rested in the hands of the Secretary General and a nine-man executive committee, elected at congresses and with different military and political responsibilities. A 21-man Politburo would further check decisions and connect

348-702: A few founder members and senior officials. Some of them are now actively promoting Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which Morocco considers its Southern Provinces . Today 38 countries around the world recognize the legitimacy of the Polisario over Western Sahara. Support for the Polisario Front came mostly from newly independent African states, including Angola and Namibia. Most of the Arab world had supported Morocco; only Algeria and Libya have, at different times, given any significant support to Polisario. Iran recognized

435-458: A group of up to 12 Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (SPLA) fighters and 8 light vehicles, two of which had mounted heavy weapons, in violation of the ceasefire. The Polisario Front claimed they were exclusively there to protect the protesters but later removed some of the light vehicles on 29 October after being told by MINURSO withdraw from the area. At the same time, 16 Royal Moroccan Army vehicles carrying heavy-duty machinery were observed west of

522-415: A guerrilla war against both Morocco and Mauritania. The International Court of Justice at The Hague had issued its verdict on the former Spanish colony just weeks before, which each party interpreted as confirming its right to the disputed territory. The Polisario kept up the guerrilla war while they simultaneously had to help guard the columns of Sahrawi refugees fleeing, but after the air bombings by

609-508: A large force consisting of 250 vehicles near Guerguerat. On 12 November, Mauritanian forces reinforced their positions along border Polisario Front-controlled territories bordering Mauritania. On 13 November 2020, both Morocco and the SADR introduced mass mobilisation. The SADR evacuated civilians from the Guerguerat area and introduced a curfew in the territories under its control. Following

696-616: A letter to the United Nations Security Council that called for "all the parties to uphold the Settlement Plan , which provides for 'a cease-fire' and the holding of a referendum for the people of Western Sahara to exercise their right to self-determination." The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization released a statement voicing its support for Western Sahara and condemned Morocco's "unlawful assertion" of sovereignty over Western Sahara. Azerbaijan , Bahrain ,

783-559: A liberal economy has been difficult to implement in a society dependent on humanitarian aid organisations. The Polisario has stated that it will, when Sahrawi self-determination has been achieved, either function as a party within the context of a multi-party system , or be completely disbanded. This is to be decided by a Polisario Front congress upon the achievement of Western Sahara's independence. In interactions with non-Sahrawi audiences, Polisario leaders have made reference to notions of secularism and religious tolerance to substantiate

870-575: A military operation from the Berm into the demilitarized buffer strip of Western Sahara to clear the protesters near Guerguerat and restore the free movement of goods and people. The Polisario Front urged the United Nations to intervene, noting that the Moroccan military operation violated the ceasefire agreements of the 1990s, and furthermore accused the Moroccan security forces of shooting at unarmed civilians in

957-443: A new pressure point on Morocco. Abdelaziz characterized them as a substitute path for the armed struggle, and indicated that if peaceful protest was squashed, in its view, without a referendum forthcoming, its armed forces would intervene. Algeria has shown an unconditional support for the Polisario Front since 1975, delivering arms, training, financial aid, and food, without interruption for more than 30 years. In 1976, Algeria called

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1044-758: A newly elected membership was formally installed as the Sahrawi National Council. The SNC is a unicameral body, with 53 seats, elected every two years (since the XIII POLISARIO Congress) at the General Popular Congresses by delegates from the Sahrawi refugee camps at Tindouf province , Algeria , supplemented by representatives of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army and the civil society organizations ( UJSARIO , UNMS , UGTSARIO ). In

1131-480: A number of international human rights organizations. The Secretary-General of the United Nations , António Guterres , and the chairperson of the African Union Commission , Moussa Faki , expressed their grave concern over the conflict, with Faki stating "[The] Saharan issue has gone on for a long time and it has become urgent to solve it as a case of decolonization in the first place and to support

1218-454: A referendum ballot, but refused to relinquish the concept of an independence referendum itself, as agreed in 1991 and 1997. Morocco, in its turn, insisted on only negotiating the terms of autonomy offered, but refused to consider an option of independence on the ballot. The 30-year cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario Front was broken in November 2020 as the government tried to open a road in

1305-497: A self-governing entity, through the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), should govern the territory with some degree of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project was presented to the United Nations Security Council in mid-April 2007, and quickly gained French and US support. Polisario had handed in its own proposal the day before, which insisted on the previously agreed referendum, but allowed for negotiating

1392-507: Is a Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to establish a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic for the Sahrawi people through the means of self-determination and armed resistance in the disputed territory of Western Sahara . Tracing its origin to a Sahrawi nationalist organization known as the Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab , the Polisario Front

1479-468: Is a Sahrawi nationalist and Arab socialist organization, whose main goal is the independence of Western Sahara from Moroccan occupation . Initially, its driving force was anti-colonial nationalism , and it was not until August 1974 that Polisario declared itself to be in favour of the independence of the Spanish Sahara from Spanish colonization. It is a left-wing movement that is considered to be

1566-644: Is no formal membership of Polisario; instead, anyone who participates in its work or lives in the refugee camps is considered a member. Between congresses, the supreme decision-making body is the National Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General. The NS is elected by the GPC. It is subdivided into committees handling defense, diplomatic affairs, etc. The 2003 NS, elected at the 11th GPC in Tifariti , Western Sahara, has 41 members. Twelve of these are secret delegates from

1653-654: Is outlawed in the parts of Western Sahara under Moroccan control, and it is illegal to raise its party flag (often called the Sahrawi flag ) there. It is a consultative member of the Socialist International . 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,

1740-519: Is recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people . Some commentators have connected Morocco's interests over the region with the idea of Greater Morocco , which encompasses Western Sahara and parts of both Mauritania, Mali , and Algeria, and according to the narrative, was divided up by the French and Spanish colonizers. Morocco, claiming Tindouf and Béchar provinces, invaded Algeria in 1963, resulting in

1827-464: The 1991 ceasefire , pending the holding of a UN-backed referendum which has been consistently postponed ever since. In 2020 the Polisario Front declared the ceasefire over and resumed the armed conflict . The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and maintains that the Sahrawis have a right to self-determination . The Polisario Front

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1914-712: The Algerian military , material and humanitarian aid, food and emergency resources are provided by international organizations such as the WHO and UNHCR . Valuable contributions also come from the strong Spanish solidarity organizations. The most intense open warfare in the conflict in Western Sahara occurred during the Cold War . However, the conflict was never fully dragged into the American–Soviet dynamics like many other conflicts. This

2001-605: The Andean Parliament . Polisario Front The Polisario Front , Frente Polisario , Frelisario or simply Polisario (from the Spanish acronym of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro ; lit.   ' Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro ' ; Arabic : الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الساقية الحمراء ووادي الذهب , romanized :  al-Jabhah ash-Shaʿbiyah Li-Taḥrīr as-Sāqiyah al-Ḥamrāʾ wa Wādī adh-Dhahab ),

2088-665: The Central African Republic , Comoros , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Chad , Djibouti , Equatorial Guinea , Gabon , the Gambia , Haiti , Jordan , Kuwait , Liberia , Oman , Qatar , São Tomé and Príncipe , Saudi Arabia , Senegal , Sierra Leone , Turkey , Yemen ( Hadi government ), and the United Arab Emirates voiced their support for Morocco, while Guyana withdrew its recognition of

2175-503: The Guerguerat buffer zone near the border with Mauritania. Sahrawi self-determination activist Sultana Khaya , who has been accused by Moroccan authorities of being a "supporter of violence" with the Polisario, has been under de facto house arrest since November 2020, subject to repeated home raids and sexual assault by Moroccan security forces, as reported by a number of international human rights organizations. The Polisario Front

2262-524: The Kingdom of Morocco and the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), represented at the United Nations by the Polisario Front , broke out in the disputed region of Western Sahara in November 2020. It was the latest escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region , which is largely occupied by Morocco , but 20–25% is administered by the SADR . The violence ended a ceasefire between

2349-815: The Royal Moroccan Air Force on improvised Sahrawi refugee camps in Umm Dreiga , Tifariti , Guelta Zemmur and Amgala , the Front had to relocate the refugees to Tindouf (western region of Algeria). For the next two years the movement grew tremendously as Sahrawi refugees continued flocking to the camps and Algeria and Libya supplied arms and funding. Within months, its army had expanded to several thousand armed fighters, camels were replaced by modern jeeps (most of them were Spanish Land Rover Santana jeeps, captured from Moroccan soldiers), and 19th-century muskets were replaced by assault rifles . The reorganized army

2436-612: The Royal Moroccan Army 's previous invasion of eastern Saguia el-Hamra of 31 October, Spain entered negotiations that led to the signing of the Madrid Accords whereby Spain ceded Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania; in 1976 Morocco took over Saguia El Hamra and Mauritania took control of Río de Oro . The Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) on 27 February 1976, and waged

2523-449: The SADR's flag over the building. Spain and Morocco condemned the incident. The Islamic State released an official statement criticising Morocco and the Polisario Front for allegedly using religion to justify the use of weapons in the conflict, for which it accused both of apostasy . According to International Crisis Group 's Portuguese analytic Riccardo Fabiani, the conflict could be

2610-535: The Saharawi Republic early in the conflict, by the end of the war Morocco had obtained control of more than two-thirds of the vast desert territory in its western part, along the Atlantic Ocean. During the war, between 1980 and 1987, Morocco built six mostly sand barriers some 2,700 kilometres (1,700 mi) long, and in 1988, both Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed to a UN Settlement Plan , approved by

2697-468: The economically useful parts of Western Sahara ( Bou Craa , El-Aaiun , Smara , etc.) This stalemated the war, with no side able to achieve decisive gains, but artillery strikes and sniping attacks by the Polisario continued, and Morocco was economically and politically strained by the war. Today Polisario controls the part of the Western Sahara on the east of the Moroccan Wall. A ceasefire between

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2784-498: The "ideal" nature of the Sahrawi refugee camps. The Polisario Front has denounced terrorism and attacks against civilians, and sent condolences to Morocco after the 2003 Casablanca bombings . It describes its struggle as a "clean war of national liberation". Since 1989, when the ceasefire was first concluded, the movement has stated it will pursue its goal of Western Sahara's independence by peaceful means as long as Morocco complies with

2871-419: The 1991 congress, when both the Polisario and SADR organizations were overhauled, integrated into the camp structure and further separated from each other. This followed protests calling for expanding the internal democracy of the movement, and also led to important shifts of personnel in the top tiers of both Polisario and SADR. The organizational order described below applies today, and was roughly finalized in

2958-513: The 1991 internal reforms of the movement, although minor changes have been made since then. The Polisario Front is led by a Secretary General. The first Secretary General was Brahim Gali , replaced in 1974 by El-Ouali at the II Congress of the Polisario Front, followed by Mahfoud Ali Beiba as Interim Secretary General upon his death. In 1976, Mohamed Abdelaziz was elected at the III Congress of

3045-496: The Moroccan army's move to secure the crossing. Sahrawi self-determination activist Sultana Khaya described Moroccan control of the Western Sahara as an occupation and called for the United States to intensify diplomatic pressure on Morocco in favor of self-determination. She has been under de facto house arrest since November 2020 and subject to repeated home raids and sexual assault by Moroccan security forces, as reported by

3132-414: The Moroccan takeover of Western Sahara a "slow, murderous" invasion against spirited fighting by Sahara guerrillas. Until 1991, the Polisario Front's structure was much different from the present one. It was, despite a few changes, inherited from the before 1975, when the Polisario Front functioned as a small, tightly-knit guerrilla movement, with a few hundred members. Consequently, it made few attempts at

3219-543: The Moroccan-controlled areas of Western Sahara. This is a shift in policy, as the Polisario traditionally confined political appointments to diaspora Sahrawis, for fear of infiltration and difficulties in communicating with Sahrawis in the Moroccan-controlled territories. It is probably intended to strengthen the movement's underground network in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, and link up with

3306-422: The Polisario Front and Morocco, monitored by MINURSO (UN), has been in effect since 6 September 1991, on the promise of a referendum on independence the following year. However, the referendum stalled over disagreements on voter rights. Numerous attempts to restart the process (most significantly the launching of the 2003 Baker Plan ) seem to have failed. In April 2007, the government of Morocco suggested that

3393-542: The Polisario Front raided the city of Zouerate, Mauritania , kidnapping six French iron mining technicians and killing two civilians. The Polisario abducted two more civilians in October. They were freed in December. Its first Secretary General was Brahim Gali . On 20 May, the new organization attacked El-Khanga, where there was a Spanish post manned by a team of Tropas Nomadas ( Sahrawi -staffed auxiliary forces), which

3480-504: The Polisario almost wholly dependent mainly on Algeria and Libya and some African and Latin American third world countries for political support, plus some NGOs from European countries (Sweden, Norway, Spain, etc.) which generally only approached the issue from a humanitarian angle. The ceasefire coincided with the end of the Cold War. World interest in the conflict seemed to expire in the 1990s as

3567-630: The Polisario, and held the post until his death in 2016. The Secretary General is elected by the General Popular Congress (GPC), regularly convened every four years. The GPC is composed of delegates from the Popular Congresses of the refugee camps in Tindouf, which are held biannually in each camp, and of delegates from the women's organization ( UNMS ), youth organization ( UJSARIO ), workers' organization ( UGTSARIO ) and military delegates from

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3654-571: The SADR Ministry of Defense claims to be carrying out daily bombardments on military objectives along the Moroccan Berm. It is the first major clash in the region since 1991. The disputed region of Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated area mostly comprising desert territories, situated in the Maghreb region of Africa's northwest coast. The region was a Spanish colony until February 1976, when

3741-675: The SADR has been compelled to rely on outdated equipment dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, given that its previous arms supplier, Muammar Gaddafi , was killed in 2011 . This predicament poses a challenge for the SPLA as they have to confront Moroccan forces equipped with more advanced weaponry, including drones. Despite that, Algeria still cooperates with the SADR by opening up its borders everyday to SPLA fighters armed with artillery who shoot at Moroccan positions. On 13 November, Sahrawi sources stated that there were mass protests in Laayoune ,

3828-522: The SADR in 1980, Mauritania had recognized the SADR in 1984, and Syria and South Yemen had supported the Polisario position on the conflict when they were all members of the Front of Refusal. Additionally, many third world non-aligned countries have supported the Polisario Front. Ties with Fretilin of East Timor (occupied by Indonesia in 1975) were exceptionally strong and remain so after that country's independence; both Polisario and Fretilin have argued that there are numerous historical parallels between

3915-580: The SADR. The Foreign Ministry of the State of Palestine said it "does not interfere in the internal affairs of the brotherly Arab countries". Egypt , Mauritania , Russia, and Spain have all urged both parties to respect the ceasefire. South Africa , Algeria and Namibia backed the Polisario Front, accused Morocco of violating the ceasefire and urged the UN to appoint a new Western Sahara envoy to restart talks. Algeria also sent 60 tons of food and medical aid to

4002-697: The SNC were substantially expanded in the 1991 constitutional reforms of the SADR, and has since been further enhanced. Below is a list of presidents of the Sahrawi Provisional National Council: Below is a list of presidents of the Sahrawi National Council: The Sahrawi National Council is a member of the Pan-African Parliament . Since October 14, 2011, the SNC is a permanent observer member of

4089-454: The SPLA (see below). All residents of the camps have a vote in the Popular Congresses, and participate in the administrative work in the camp through base-level 11-person cells, which form the smallest unit of the refugee camp political structure. These typically care for distribution of food, water and schooling in their area, joining in higher-level organs (encompassing several camp quarters) to cooperate and establish distribution chains. There

4176-502: The Sahara question gradually sank from public consciousness due to decreasing media attention. A key diplomatic dispute between Morocco and Polisario is over the international diplomatic recognition of the SADR as a sovereign state and Western Sahara's legitimate government. In 2004, South Africa announced formal recognition of the SADR, delayed for ten years despite unequivocal promises by Nelson Mandela as apartheid fell. This came since

4263-542: The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, causing a massive rupture in relations with Morocco. The area of Western Sahara evacuated by Mauritania ( Tiris al-Gharbiya , roughly corresponding to the southern half of Río de Oro), was annexed by Morocco in August 1979. From the mid-1980s Morocco largely managed to keep Polisario troops off by building a huge berm or sand wall (the Moroccan Wall ), staffed by an army, enclosing within it

4350-458: The Sahrawi people, creating a large caravan of vehicles and blocking traffic in the region. Morocco, which regards the region as vital to trade with sub-Saharan Africa , accused the Polisario Front of infiltrating the buffer zone and "carrying out acts of banditry" in Guerguerat. The Moroccan authorities also stated that the Polisario Front was harassing UN troops at the crossing, though the UN denied this. These protesters were later joined by

4437-485: The Spanish government informed the United Nations that it withdrew from the territory. Since then, the region has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco , supported by a number of its prominent Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan , and the Saharawi Republic (SADR), an African Union member state established by the Algerian-backed pro-independence Polisario Front , which

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4524-617: The UN Security Council on 29 April 1991, called for a referendum, which would ask the Sahrawis to choose between independence or integration into Morocco, to be organized and conducted by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). After the war, on 6 September 1991, an UN-brokered ceasefire was signed, promising a referendum on self-determination to the Sahrawis. The United Nations has recognising

4611-657: The UN efforts in this regard." The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , Josep Borrell , stated that the EU was supporting the efforts of the United Nations to find a peaceful settlement for the conflict, per the Security Council resolutions, and stressing the insurance of freedom of movement in Guerguerat. The secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , Yousef Al-Othaimeen , and

4698-458: The United Nations to resolve the conflict peacefully, and that although the Secretary-General of the United Nations , António Guterres , approved this request, the situation was not resolved. Guterres himself likewise said that he had launched numerous initiatives to evade an escalation in the buffer zone, but his efforts had failed. On 6 November, MINURSO observed that Morocco was deploying

4785-418: The announced referendum for Western Sahara was never held. Kenya and Uruguay followed in 2005, and relations were upgraded in some other countries, while recognition of the SADR was cancelled by others (Albania , Chad , Serbia); in 2006, Kenya suspended its decision to recognize the SADR to act as a mediating party. 2020%E2%80%932021 Western Saharan clashes Clashes between military forces belonging to

4872-443: The area as a non-self-governing territory since 1963; it is also the only African territory on the list, making the Western Sahara the last African territory subject to decolonization . Despite the efforts, the planned referendum has been repeatedly delayed ever since then; Morocco had refused the terms of the referendum, citing its dissatisfaction with who was allowed to vote, while tens of thousands of Moroccans have emigrated to

4959-624: The berm near Guerguerat. To reduce tensions, MINURSO requested that the Moroccan army also leave the area. Despite claiming it would comply to the request, no withdrawal was observed. In early November, around 200 Moroccan truck drivers appealed to Moroccan and Mauritanian authorities for help, saying they were stranded on the Mauritanian side of the border near Guerguerat, and adding that they didn't have access to drinking water, food, shelter, or medicine, with some suffering from chronic illnesses. According to Jeune Afrique , Morocco first appealed to

5046-531: The brief Sand War , which ended in a military stalemate. While the Polisario Front had waged a low-intensity war of national liberation against Spanish colonial authorities since May 1973, the Western Sahara War began in October 1975, just weeks before the death of long-time Spanish dictator Francisco Franco , when Moroccan and Mauritanian forces, aided by France, invaded the Spanish colony. While Mauritania withdrew from Western Sahara and recognized

5133-502: The buffer strip. Morocco denied there had been any armed clashes between the sides and said the truce remained in place, while SADR authorities declared the ceasefire over. Clashes spread that same day along the Moroccan Berm , with Morocco claiming that it had repelled a Sahrawi incursion near Al Mahbes . The SADR declared war on Morocco the next day. Since the beginning of the conflict, both countries have begun mass mobilisation and

5220-411: The ceasefire conditions, which include arranging a referendum on independence, while reserving the right to resume armed struggle if terms are objectively breached, for example, if the referendum is not conducted. Mohamed Abdelaziz has repeatedly stated that the Moroccan withdrawal from the 1991 Settlement Plan and refusal to sign the 2003 Baker Plan would logically lead to war from its perspective if

5307-526: The chief of the Polisario head of the Gendarmerie, in April 2021. Missile fragments examined by the Intercept indicated that Bayraktar TB2 attack drones sold by Turkey have been used on targets in Western Sahara. Since the start of the clashes, Algeria has reiterated its support for Western Saharan independence. However, Algeria has been reluctant to send the SADR any serious type of equipment. Consequently,

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5394-478: The conflict, as the group had split in two factions, and Polisario has refused dialogs with it, stating that political decisions must be taken within the established political system. Since the end of the 1980s, several members of the Polisario have decided to discontinue their military or political activities for the Polisario Front. Most of them returned from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria to Morocco, among them

5481-472: The country's preoccupation with its own civil war . The Polisario is practically dependent on its bases and refugee camps, located on Algerian soil. While Sahrawis' right to wage an armed struggle against Morocco, and has helped to equip the SPLA, the government also seems to have barred Polisario from returning to armed struggle after 1991, attempting to curry favor from the US and France and to avoid inflaming its already poor relations with Morocco. Apart from

5568-450: The international community does not step in. In contrast, Polisario-Mauritanian relations following a peace treaty in 1979 and the recognition of the SADR by Mauritania in 1984, with the latter's retreat from Western Sahara, have been quiet and generally neutral without reports of armed clashes from either side. The series of protests and riots in 2005 by Sahrawis in "the occupied territories" received strong vocal support from Polisario as

5655-413: The issue, but militarily backed Morocco against Polisario during the Cold War, especially during the Reagan administration . Despite this, Polisario never received counter-support from the Soviet Union (or the People's Republic of China, the third and junior player in the Cold War). Instead, the entire Eastern Bloc decided in favor of ties and trade with Morocco and refused to recognize the SADR. This made

5742-414: The last election (2012), 35% of the parliamentarians were women. It usually convenes in Tifariti , at the Liberated Territories of Western Sahara, but on occasion also in the refugee camps . Among the reforms enacted by the SNC is the abolishment of death penalty . In 1999, the SNC caused the fall of then Prime Ministers Mahfoud Ali Beiba government through a motion of no-confidence . The powers of

5829-509: The legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people . It has stated that ideological disputes should be left for a future democratic Western Sahara to deal with. It views itself as a "front" encompassing all political trends in Sahrawi society, and not as a political party. As a consequence, there is no party program. However, the Sahrawi republic's constitution gives a hint of the movement's ideological context. In 1991, Polisario voted for free market economics and multi-party politics, however

5916-401: The movement eventually relocated to Spanish-controlled Spanish Sahara to start an armed rebellion. The Polisario Front was formally constituted on 10 May 1973 at Ain Bentili by several Sahrawi university students, survivors of the 1968 massacres in Zouérat and Sahrawi veterans of the Spanish Army . They called themselves the Constituent Congress of the Polisario Front. On 1 May 1977,

6003-522: The movement with its affiliated "mass organizations", UGTSARIO , UJSARIO and UNMS (see below). But after the movement took on the role as a state-in-waiting in 1975, based in the refugee camps in Tindouf , Algeria, this structure proved incapable of dealing with its vastly expanded responsibilities. As a consequence, the old military structure was wedded to the new grass-roots refugee camp administration which had asserted itself in Tindouf, with its system of committees and elected camp assemblies. In 1976,

6090-511: The opposing sides that had held for 29 years in anticipation of a referendum of self-determination that would have settled the dispute. Despite the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara in 1991, the referendum was never held. Tensions between Morocco and the Polisario Front deepened in mid-October 2020 when Sahrawi peaceful protesters blocked a controversial road connecting Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara to sub-Saharan Africa . The protesters camped on

6177-440: The rapidly growing Sahrawi civil rights activism. In 2004, an anti-ceasefire and anti-Abdelaziz opposition fraction, the Front Polisario Khat al-Shahid announced its existence, in the first break with the principle of "national unity" (i.e., working in one single organization to prevent internal conflict). It calls for reforms in the movement, as well as resumption of hostilities with Morocco. But it remains of little importance to

6264-462: The refugees in Western Sahara. On the other hand, Spain's second deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias Turrión , Cuba , and Venezuela have stated that they supported the right to self-determination of the Sahrawis. On 15 November, a group of Sahrawis staged a rally in front of the Moroccan consulate in Valencia , Spain. The protestors dismantled the flag of Morocco from the consulate, raising

6351-489: The region since the 1970s. Guerguerat is a small village located on the southern coast of the region, along the Moroccan National Route 1 leading to Mauritania , some 380 kilometres (240 mi) north of Nouakchott , in a buffer zone patrolled by MINURSO; UN's envoy to the region, Horst Köhler , resigned in mid-2019 for health-related reasons. The Polisario Front considers the road illegal since they say it

6438-578: The road near the small village of Guerguerat , where it passes through a 5-kilometre-wide buffer strip monitored by the UN . Despite the controversy, the route had grown in economic importance, such that the protest stranded about 200 Moroccan truck drivers on the Mauritanian side of the border. According to the MINURSO, both Morocco and Polisario deployed forces near the area in late October, with Mauritanian forces reinforcing their positions along its border with Western Sahara. On 13 November, Morocco launched

6525-662: The same source stated that the Moroccan security forces had arrested several demonstrators in Smara . On 14 November, some Sahrawi tribal leaders issued a joint statement in support of the Moroccan intervention to restore free movement in Guerguerat . More than fifty riders from the Moroccan Bikers Club and the Royal Petanque Club organized a trip from Casablanca to the Guerguerat border crossing starting on 27 December and ending on 3 January 2021 to express their support for

6612-691: The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council , Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf, stated that they support Morocco's efforts to what they called "securing freedom of civil and commercial movement." The Central American Parliament also expressed its support for Morocco. On 20 November, the Chairperson of the African Union and President of the Republic of South Africa , Cyril Ramaphosa , wrote

6699-570: The signing of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement in December 2020, Morocco has purchased advanced military equipment from Israel including at least 150 drones. The use of these drones has been documented in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara where they have killed both SPLA fighters and civilians. Israeli drones are also suspected to have been used to follow the movements of SPLA forces. In October 2022, Morocco made

6786-466: The situation was further complicated by the Sahrawi Republic assuming functions of government in the camps and Polisario-held territories of Western Sahara. The SADR and Polisario institutions often overlapped, and their division of power was often hard to ascertain. A more comprehensive merger of these different organizational patterns (military organization/refugee camps/SADR) was not achieved until

6873-472: The status of Moroccans now living in the territory should the outcome of a referendum be in favor of independence. This led to the negotiations process known as the Manhasset negotiations . Four rounds were held in 2007 and 2008; no progress was made, however, as both parties refused to compromise about what they considered core sovereignty issues. Polisario agreed to add autonomy as per the Moroccan proposal to

6960-472: The two conflicts. The movement's main political and military backers were originally Algeria and Libya, with Cuba coming a very distant third. Mauritania also attempts to avoid involvement and to balance between Morocco and Polisario's backers in Algeria, although it formally recognizes the SADR as Western Sahara's government since 1984 and has a substantial Sahrawi refugee population (around 30,000) on its territory. Support from Algeria remains strong, despite

7047-471: The unofficial capital of Western Sahara, which is de facto administered by Morocco, against the clashes. The Moroccan media denied these claims, stating that the city's population was in support of the Moroccan forces, citing Laayoune's mayor. Despite that, the NGO media outlet Équipe Media reported that the Moroccan government was exercising a strong police force, and had arrested several activists. The next day,

7134-455: Was able to inflict severe damage through guerrilla -style hit-and-run attacks against opposing forces in Western Sahara and in Morocco and Mauritania proper. A comprehensive peace treaty was signed on 5 August 1979, in which the new Mauritanian government recognized Sahrawi rights to Western Sahara and relinquished its own claims. Mauritania withdrew all its forces, and later formally recognized

7221-414: Was built in violation of the ceasefire. Tensions yet again deepened between Morocco and the Polisario Front in mid-October, when unarmed Sahrawi refugees from Tindouf , Algeria (where Polisario-administered refugee camps house about 100,000 Sahrawi refugees ) passed through SADR-controlled territories to camp on and block the road in protest of what they called the plunder of Western Saharan resources from

7308-556: 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 the most powerful political force in the country. With Algeria's help, Polisario set up headquarters in Tindouf . After Moroccan pressures through the Green March of 6 November and

7395-483: Was formally constituted in 1973 with the intention of launching an armed struggle against the Spanish occupation which lasted until 1975, when the Spanish decided to allow Mauritania and Morocco to partition and occupy the territory. The Polisario Front waged a war to drive out the two armies. It forced Mauritania to relinquish its claim over Western Sahara in 1979 and continued its military campaign against Morocco until

7482-567: Was mainly because both sides tried to avoid overt involvement, which would necessitate a crash in relations with either Morocco or Algeria – the major North African players – and because neither viewed it as an important front. Morocco was firmly entrenched in the US camp, whereas Algeria aligned generally with the Soviet Union during the 1970s, and took a more independent "third-worldist" position after that. The United States claimed political neutrality on

7569-513: 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 and women, but they were suspected of being backed by a much larger network of supporters. A UN visiting mission , headed by Simeon Aké , that

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