Sahara

Sahara Under Spanish sovereignty since 1884, a treaty of partition between Spain, Mauretania, and Morocco was signed in 1975. Accordingly, Spain withdrew its troops by March 1976, when the country was divided up into a northern half occupied by Morocco and a southern half administered by Mauretania. The Moroccan part was particularly rich in mineral resources (especially phosphate), some of whose proceeds were given to Mauretania. Increasing popular resentment boosted the guerrilla movement POLISARIO (Frente Popular de Liberación de Seguía el-Hamra y Río de Oro, Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguira Hamra and Rio de Oro), which had originally been formed to fight against the Spanish. On 28 February 1976, POLISARIO unilaterally proclaimed the Sahara Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). By 1979, its guerrilla operations in Mauretania had weakened that country's military and economy to such an extent that the two sides concluded a peace agreement on 5 August 1979.

In response, Morocco immediately occupied the southern part of the country. Over 100,000 US-equipped Moroccan troops were confronted by about 20,000 POLISARIO guerrillas, operating from and largely equipped by Algeria. The SADR was admitted into the OAU, whereupon Morocco withdrew. Exhausted by massive military expenditure, Morocco signed a truce with POLISARIO in 1991, but successfully caused the periodical postponement of a referendum on its independence first due in 1992. At issue was the registration of voters, as Morocco insisted on the admission of over 100,000 Moroccans who had immigrated under the sponsorship of the Moroccan government. The deadlock in the negotiations between POLISARIO and Morocco appeared to be broken with the appointment of former US Secretary of State James Baker as mediator. An agreement was reached to hold the referendum in 2000, but this was postponed as Morocco made new demands for voter registration. Initial hopes that the more liberal King Mohammed VI would moderate Moroccan demands were thus disappointed. POLISARIO's government-in-exile had its seat in Algeria, and was recognized by the OAU, and over 30 other states worldwide.