Politics of Western Sahara
Politics of Western Sahara Political parties in Western Sahara Elections in Western Sahara Download high resolution version (1600x800, 9 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara Data code: WI Government type: legal status of territory and question of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro), which... Political parties in Western Sahara lists political parties in Western Sahara. ... Elections in Western Sahara gives information on election and election results in Western Sahara. ...

The Polisario, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro ("People's Liberation Front of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro") is an army and political movement in the Western Sahara, comprising the Sahrawi refugee population. Secretary-General is Mohamed Abdelaziz. This region of Western Sahara makes up the northern third of the country. ... This region of Western Sahara makes up the southern two_thirds of the country. ... Sahrawi and Saharawi are terms most commonly used for the natives of the Morocco-administered Western Sahara. ... Mohamed Abdelaziz, pictured c. ...

On February 27, 1976, Polisario formally proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). It has a government in exile. Abdelaziz is president. The SADR is a member of the African Union, but not of the UN. It has been acknowledged as a state by 76 states, nearly all of them African or Latin American. Some countries have not recognised the SADR, but do recognise Polisario as representative of the Saharawi people. Still other countries do not recognise Polisario at all, but also do not recognise Morocco's unilateral annexation of the area. No state has formally recognized Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara. February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Saharawi (or Sahrawi) Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is the long-form English translation of the government of Western Sahara (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الدمقرطية, Spanish: República Arabe Saharaui Democrática). ... A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a countrys legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. ... Anthem: Let us all unite and celebrate together Official languages The African languages, as well as Arabic, English, French and Portuguese Some member states have other official languages. ... This article is about the United Nations, for other uses of UN see UN (disambiguation) Official languages English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic Secretary-General Kofi Annan (since 1997) Established October 24, 1945 Member states 191 Headquarters New York City, NY, USA Official site http://www. ... Western Sahara is claimed and administered by Morocco since Spain abandoned the territory in 1976, but sovereignty is unresolved and the United Nations is attempting to hold a referendum on the issue through the mission MINURSO. The UN-administered cease-fire has been in effect since September 1991. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and second most populous. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ...

Polisario is a successor of the Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara in the 1960s, lead by Bassiri. Spanish troops under Franco's regime crushed the uprising. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Francisco Franco Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde Salgado Pardo de Andrade (December 4, 1892 – November 20, 1975), abbreviated Francisco Franco Bahamonde and sometimes known as Generalísimo Francisco Franco, was dictator of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975. ...

Polisario was formed on May 10, 1973 with the express intention of the removal of Spanish, Moroccan (and for a period of about 4 years Mauritanian) military administration of the Western Sahara. Its first general secretary was El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed. For the next two years, Polisario organized a number of hit-and-run attacks against occupation forces in Western Sahara and the occupying countries, but took care not to strike at civilian targets. May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed (1950-1976) Sahrawi nationalist leader. ...

From 1975 Polisario has been stationed in Tindouf, western Algeria. In the same year United Nations mission recognized it and the World Court at The Hague ruled in favor of their self-determination. 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Tindouf, also written Tinduf, is a city and wilaya in the west of Algeria, pop. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... The World Court refers collectively to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) and its successor the International Court of Justice (ICJ). ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, or officially s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ...

Polisario signed a peace treaty with Mauritania August 5, 1979, in which the Nouakchott government recognized Sahrawi rights to Western Sahara and relinquished its own claims. Mauritania withdrew, but the area it had occupied was now additionally taken by Morocco. August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Nouakchott (Arabic: نواكشوط or انواكشوط; population estimate 1999: 881,000) is the capital and by far the largest city of Mauritania. ...

Polisario still contests the Western Sahara with Morocco, though Morocco has largely managed to keep Polisario troops off by a sand wall (the Moroccan Wall or berm) and its larger army. The Moroccan Wall, dubbed by the Sahrawis The Wall of Shame, is a 2,500km-long system of defensive walls, known as berms: sand and stone walls about three meters in height with bunkers, fences and landmines, running mainly through the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. ... A berm is a level space or shelf separating two features. ...

A cease-fire between Polisario and Morocco, monitored by MINURSO (UN) is effective since September 6, 1991. An armistice is the effective end of a war, when the warring parties agree to stop fighting. ... MINURSO is a UN peacekeeping mission, established in 1991 to monitor the ceasefire and to organize and conduct a referendum which would enable the people of Western Sahara to choose between integration with Morocco and independence. ... This article is about the United Nations, for other uses of UN see UN (disambiguation) Official languages English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic Secretary-General Kofi Annan (since 1997) Established October 24, 1945 Member states 191 Headquarters New York City, NY, USA Official site http://www. ... September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Polisario controls the part of the Western Sahara on the east of the Moroccan Wall, which is almost uninhabited.

Near Tindouf it organizes the Saharawi refugee camps. Also it holds there 400 Moroccan POWs, some for more than 20 years. They are the longest-held prisoners of war in the world. Attempts by the Red Cross to repatriate the soldiers have been met with apathy and antipathy by the Moroccan government - some have been refused reentry and renewed citizenship. According to the GNN article 'Polisario Front to free Moroccan POW's' of 16th July 2005, these prisoners are to be released to defuse esclating tensions between the Polisario Front and the Moroccan Government. On August 19, 2005, All 404 Moroccan POWS were released by the Polisario in what it called a peace gesture. They had been held for more than 20 years. A refugee camp is a camp built up by governments or NGOs (such as the ICRC) to receive refugees. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Somebody please clean this up. ...

Support for the Polisario came mostly from African countries, Morocco's traditional rivals within the Arab world, and from third world non-aligned countries. The main political and military backers were Algeria and Cuba, and for some years Libya, but valuable contributions also came from the strong Spanish solidarity organizations and other third world liberation movements. Ties with the Fretilin liberation movement, were exceptionally strong, and remain so after East Timor's independence. Categories: East Timor | Politics stubs ...

The United States of America firmly backed Morocco against Polisario during the Cold War, but Polisario never received counter-support from the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China; both rival powers preferred ties with Morocco and refused to recognize the SADR. In the nineties, world interest in the conflict seemed to expire as the Sahara question gradually sunk from public consciousness with the implementation of the cease-fire. Libya withdrew support in the early 1980's, after forming a brief political union with Morocco, and its support of the Polisario today is verbal and infrequent. Support from Algeria remains strong, but the government seems to have barred Polisario from returning to armed struggle, attempting to curry favor from the US and France and to mend the inflamed ties with Morocco. For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... Arab Maghreb Union Pan Arab project aming at economic and political union in northern Africa, initiated in 1989. ...

In 2004, South Africa announced its formal recognition of the SADR, delayed for 10 years despite unequivocal promises by Nelson Mandela as apartheid fell. Kenya followed in 2005, and relations were upgraded in some other countries. This seems to point to increased African diplomatic activity in support of Polisario and Western Saharan self determination. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... President Nelson Mandela, 1995-1999 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela IPA: [nɛlsən roliɬaɬa mandɛla], OM OC, (born 18 July 1918) was the first democratically-elected President of South Africa. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

See also

• Morocco's relations
• History of Western Sahara
• Moroccan Wall
• Politics of Western Sahara

Morocco is a moderate Arab state which maintains close relations with Europe and the United States. ... // Background The Western Sahara has never been a nation in the modern sense of the word. ... The Moroccan Wall, dubbed by the Sahrawis The Wall of Shame, is a 2,500km-long system of defensive walls, known as berms: sand and stone walls about three meters in height with bunkers, fences and landmines, running mainly through the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. ... Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara Data code: WI Government type: legal status of territory and question of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro), which...

External links

• An overview of Western Sahara
• Michael Palin's visit to Smara Refugee Camp