Editing History of Western Sahara

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{{History of Western Sahara}}

The '''history of Western Sahara''' can be traced back to the times of [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] explorer [[Hanno the Navigator]] in the 5th century BC. Though few historical records are left from that period, [[Western Sahara]]'s modern history has its roots linked to some nomadic groups (living under Berber tribal rule and in contact with the Roman Empire) such as the [[Sanhaja]] group, and the introduction of [[Islam]] and the [[Arabic|Arabic language]] at the end of the 8th century AD.

Western Sahara has never been a nation in the modern sense of the word. It was home to Phoenician colonies, but those disappeared with virtually no trace. [[Islam]] arrived there in the 8th century, but the region, beset with desertification, remained little developed. 
From the 11th to the 19th centuries, Western Sahara was one of the links between the [[sub-Saharan Africa|sub-Saharan]] and [[North Africa]]n regions. During the 11th century, the [[Sanhaja]] tribal confederation allied with the [[Lamtuna]] tribe to found the [[Almoravid dynasty]]. The conquests of the Almoravids extended over present-day [[History of Morocco|Morocco]], [[History of Algeria|Western Algeria]], and the [[Iberian Peninsula]] to the north and [[History of Mauritania|Mauritania]] and [[History of Mali|Mali]] to the south, reaching the [[Ghana Empire]]. By the 16th century, the Arab [[Saadi dynasty]] conquered the [[Songhai Empire]] based on the [[Niger River]]. Some [[Trans-Saharan trade]] routes also traversed Western Sahara.

In 1884, [[Spain]] claimed a protectorate over the coast from Cape Bojador to Cape Blanc, and the area was later extended. In 1958, Spain combined separate districts together to form the province of [[Spanish Sahara]].

A [[Advisory opinion on Western Sahara|1975 advisory opinion]] by the [[International Court of Justice]] on the status of the Western Sahara held that while some of the region's tribes had historical ties to Morocco, they were insufficient to establish "any tie of territorial sovereignty" between the Western Sahara and the Kingdom of [[Morocco]]. In November of that year, the [[Green March]] into Western Sahara began when 350,000 unarmed Moroccans, accompanied by the Moroccan Army armed with heavy weapons,{{check|date=November 2021}} converged on the southern city of Tarfaya and waited for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara. As a result of pressure from France, the US, and the UK, Spain abandoned Western Sahara on November 14, 1975, going so far as to even exhume Spanish corpses from cemeteries. Morocco later virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal.

On February 27, 1976, the [[Polisario Front]] formally proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and set up a government in exile, initiating a guerrilla war between the Polisario and Morocco, which continued until a 1991 cease-fire. As part of the 1991 peace accords, a referendum was to be held among indigenous people, giving them the option between independence or inclusion within Morocco. To date the referendum has never been held because of questions over who is eligible to vote.

==Ancient and classical antiquity==
[[Phoenicia]]n/[[Carthage|Carthaginian]] colonies established or reinforced by [[Hanno the Navigator]] in the 5th century BC have vanished with virtually no trace.{{dubious|date=October 2011}} The [[desertification]] of the [[Sahara]] during the "transitional arid phase" ca. 300 BC - 300 AD"<ref>{{cite news|author=Brooks, George E. |title=Climate and History in West Africa|editor=Connah, Graham  |work= Transformations in Africa. Essays on Africa's Later Past |location=London & Washington|publisher= Leicester University Press|year= 1998|pages= 139–159}}</ref> made contact with some parts with the outside world very difficult before the introduction of the [[camel]] into these areas, from the third century of the Christian era on.<ref>{{cite news|work=UNESCO [[General History of Africa]] III|year= 1988|title= Chapter 28: Africa from the seventh to the eleventh century: five formative centuries|author1=Devisse, J. |author2=Vansina, J. |page= 758}}</ref>

===Contacts with Roman Empire===
[[Pliny the Elder|Plinius]] wrote that the coastal area north of the [[Senegal River|river Senegal]] and south of the [[Atlas Mountains]] was populated, during [[Augustus]] times, by the ''Pharusii'' and ''Perorsi'',<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_QRAAAAYAAJ&q=pharusii%20mauretania&pg=PR10 |title=Map with indication of the Pharusii and Perorsi|year=1832}}</ref>

{{Quote|''In the year 41 AD Suetonius Paullinus, afterwards Consul, was the first of the Romans who led an army across Mount Atlas. At the end of a ten days' march he reached the summit,—which even in summer was covered with snow,—and from thence, after passing a desert of black sand and burnt rocks, he arrived at a river called Gerj...he then penetrated into the country of the Canarii and Perorsi, the former of whom inhabited a woody region abounding in elephants and serpents, and the latter were Ethiopians, not far distant from the Pharusii and the river Daras (modern river Senegal)''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Pliny the Elder|journal=The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London|volume= 1-10|publisher= Royal Geographical Society |location=Great Britain|page= 7}}</ref>}}

What is now Western Sahara was a dry [[savanna]] area during [[classical antiquity]], where independent tribes like the Pharusii and the Perorsi led a [[semi-nomadic]] life facing growing [[desertification]].

[[Roman Empire|Romans]] made [[Roman expeditions to Sub-Saharan Africa|explorations]] toward this area and probably reached, with [[Suetonius Paulinus]], the area of [[Adrar plateau|Adrar]]. There is evidence (e.g., coins, [[fibula]]s) of Roman commerce in [[Akjoujt]] and Tamkartkart near [[Tichit]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gB6DcMU94GUC&q=roman+casablanca&pg=PA515 |title= Sahara in classical antiquity: Map of Roman presence and archeological findings in the Western Sahara region |year= 1981 |page= 514|publisher= Univ of California Press |isbn= 978-0-435-94805-4 }}</ref>

The western Sahara population (in those first centuries of the Roman Empire) consisted of nomads (mainly of the [[Sanhaja]] [[tribalism|tribal]] confederation) in the plains and sedentary populations in river valleys, in oases, and in towns like Awdaghust, Tichitt, Oualata, Taghaza, Timbuktu, [[Awlil]], Azuki, and Tamdult.

Some [[Berber people|Berber tribes]] moved to [[Mauritania]] in the third and fourth century, and after the 13th century some Arabs entered the region as conquerors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=North Africa - From the Arab conquest to 1830 {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Africa/From-the-Arab-conquest-to-1830 |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}

==Islamic era==
[[Islam]] arrived in the 8th century AD between the [[Berber people|Berber]] population who inhabited the western part of the Sahara.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1382/the-spread-of-islam-in-ancient-africa/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Wiafe-Amoako|first=Francis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nttJEAAAQBAJ&q=the+world+today+africa+2022|title=The World Today Series: Africa|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2021|isbn=978-1-4758-5649-1|page=3|language=English}}</ref>  The Islamic faith quickly expanded, brought by [[Arab]] immigrants, who initially only blended superficially with the population, mostly confining themselves to the cities of present-day [[Morocco]] and Spain.

The Berbers increasingly used the traditional trade routes of the [[Sahara]]. [[Camel train|Caravan]]s transported [[salt]], [[gold]] and [[slave]]s between North Africa and [[West Africa]], and the control of trade routes became a major ingredient in the constant power struggle between various tribes. On more than one occasion, the Berber tribes of the Western Sahara would unite behind religious leaders to sweep the ruling leaders from power, sometimes founding dynasties of their own. This was the case with the [[Almoravid]]s and [[Al-Andalus]], and was also the case with the jihad of Nasir al-Din in the 17th century and the later [[Qadiriyyah]] movement of the [[Kunta family|Kunta]] in the 18th century.<ref>Philip Curtin (ed.), African History,  1978, p. 211-212</ref>

==Zawiyas==
An important role was played by the [[Zawiya (institution)|zawiya]]s. These zawiya tribes became the tribes of the teachers, specialists of religion, law and education.<ref>Maurische Chronik (ed. W.D. Seiwert), Ch.6 Leute des Buches und Leute des Schwerts, Berlin, 1988</ref>

==Arabization of the mujahideen (13th and 14th century)==
In the 13th and 14th century, these tribes migrated westwards along the Sahara's northern border to settle in the [[Fezzan]] ([[Libya]]), [[Ifriqiya]] ([[Tunisia]]), [[Tlemcen]] ([[Algeria]]), [[Jebel Saghro]] ([[Morocco]]), and [[Saguia el-Hamra]] ([[Western Sahara]]).<ref>{{cite news |work=UNESCO - General History of Africa III|title= Chapter 9: The conquest of North Africa and Berber Resistance |author= H. Monès|pages= 224–246}}</ref>

[[Ouadane]], Idjil (near [[Atar, Mauritania|Atar]]), [[Azougui]], [[Araouane]], [[Taoudenni]], and later [[Tindouf]] were important stopping-places.<ref>{{cite web|title=Map |url= http://les.traitesnegrieres.free.fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Map|url=http://les.traitesnegrieres.free.fr/vosPages/2_traite_musulmane/05_esclavage_traite_musulmane_tombouctou.php3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051224041740/http://les.traitesnegrieres.free.fr/vosPages/2_traite_musulmane/05_esclavage_traite_musulmane_tombouctou.php3|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 24, 2005|website=Les.Traites.Negrieres.Free.Fr}}</ref> At the same time, the number of slaves kept in [[Western Sahara]] itself increased drastically.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The horse and slave trade between the western Sahara and Senegambia|author= Webb, J.L.A.|journal= Journal of African History|year= 1993|volume= 34|number= 2|pages= 221–246|issn= 0021-8537|doi=10.1017/s0021853700033338}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Human Commodity: Perspectives on the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade |editor=Savage, Elizabeth |year= 1992|location=London|publisher= Frank Cass & Co.|isbn= 0-7146-3469-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Fisher, Allan |author2=Fisher, Humphrey J. |title= Slavery and Muslim Society in Africa|location= London|publisher=C. Hurst|year= 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Klein, Martin A. |title=Slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa|location= New York|publisher= Cambridge University Press|year= 1998}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book|author=Cordell, Dennis D|title= Dar al-Kuti and the Last Years of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade|location= Madison|publisher= University of Wisconsin Press|year= 1985}}</ref>

The Maqil tribes, who entered the domains of the [[Sanhaja]] Berber tribe, sometimes intermarried with the Berber population; the Arabo-Berber people of the region are now known as [[Sahrawi people|Saharawi]]. An [[exonym]] sometimes used to describe the [[Banu Hassan]] tribes of present-day of the region was [[Moors]]. The [[Arabic Language|Arabic]] dialect, [[Hassaniya]], became the dominant mother-tongue of the Western Sahara and [[Mauritania]]. Berber vocabulary and cultural traits remain common, despite the fact that many Saharawi people today claim Arab ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=atlasofhumanity.com |title=Sahrawi People |url=https://www.atlasofhumanity.com/sahrawi |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=Atlas Of Humanity |language=en}}</ref>

==Colonial era (1884–1975)==
[[Image:Colonial Africa 1913 map.svg|thumb|Map showing claims to Africa in 1913, Spanish colonies, including Western Sahara, are colored violet]]

[[Western Sahara]] came under Spanish rule, despite attempts by the Moroccan sultan Hassan I to repel the European incursions on the territory in 1886. The oases of [[Tuat]] in the south-east went to the immense territory of the French [[Sahara]]. In 1898, in the aftermath of the [[Spanish–American War]], Spain attempted to sell Spanish Sahara to [[Austria-Hungary]]; Spain wished to recoup its losses from the conflict and several Austrian ministers wished to obtain an overseas colony to justify naval expansion. However, as Austria-Hungary operated as a [[dual monarchy]] with [[Cisleithania|Austria]] and [[Transleithania|Hungary]] having joint control over financial and foreign policy matters, the Hungarian [[House of Magnates]] vetoed the purchase and the colony was retained by Spain.

===Sahrawi tribes===
The modern [[ethnic group]] is thus an [[Arabization|Arabized]] Berber people inhabiting the westernmost [[Sahara desert]], in the area of modern [[Mauritania]], [[Morocco]], [[Algeria]] and most notably the [[Western Sahara]], with some [[tribe]]s traditionally migrating into northern [[Mali]] and [[Niger]]. As with most [[Sahrawi people|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 [[Islam]]ic states of North Africa, such as the [[Sultan of Morocco]] and the [[Dey]]s of [[Algeria]]. The Islamic governments of the pre-colonial sub-Saharan empires of [[Mali]] and [[Songhai Empire|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 some 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.

Best reference on Sahrawi population ethnography in the Spanish colonial era is the work of Spanish anthropologist [[Julio Caro Baroja]], who in 1952–53 spent several months among native tribes all along the then [[Spanish Sahara]].<ref>Julio Caro Baroja, '''Estudios Saharianos''', Instituto de Estudios Africanos, Madrid, 1955. Re-edited 1990: Ediciones Júcar. {{ISBN|84-334-7027-2}}</ref>

===Spanish Sahara===
{{Main|Spanish Sahara}}
[[File:Trabajos de la Sociedad Española de Africanistas. Establecimiento provisional en la Península de Río de Oro. de fotografía remitida por el señor Bonelli.jpg|thumb|Engraving depicting the ''Sociedad Española de Africanistas''{{'}} exploratory works in the [[Río de Oro Peninsula]] led by [[Emilio Bonelli]] (published in January 1885 in ''[[La Ilustración Española y Americana]]'').]]
In 1884, Spain claimed a [[protectorate]] over the coast from [[Cape Bojador]] to [[Ras Nouadhibou|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 [[Sahrawi people|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. [[Ifni War|Another uprising in 1956–1958]], initiated by the [[Moroccan 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 "[[forced disappearance|disappeared]]" its founder, [[Muhammad Bassiri]], anti-Spanish feeling or Sahrawi nationalism again took a militant turn.

==Western Sahara conflict==
{{Main|Western Sahara conflict}}
From 1973 the colonizers gradually lost control over the countryside to the armed [[guerrilla warfare|guerrillas]] of the [[Polisario Front]], a [[nationalist]] organization. Successive Spanish attempts to form loyal Sahrawi political institutions (such as the [[Djema'a]] -many members of the Yemaa are today in Polisario Movement- and the [[Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui|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 [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portuguese Estado Novo-government]] after unpopular [[Portuguese Wars in Africa|wars in its own African provinces]] seems to have hastened the decision to pull out.

==Armed conflict (1975–1991)==
{{main|Western Sahara War}}
In late 1975, Spain held meetings with Polisario leader [[El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed|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 a 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 [[UN visiting mission to Spanish Sahara|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]]<ref>{{Cite book|author=Davidson, Basil |title=Let freedom come: Africa in modern history|date=1978|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=0-316-17435-1|oclc=3843563}}</ref> (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 [[Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui|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 [[International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara|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 to gain any legal standing. Neither Morocco nor Mauritania accepted this, and on October 31, 1975, Morocco sent its [[Military of Morocco|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.

[[Image:Cold War Africa 1980.PNG|thumb|upright=1.3|Cold War Allegiances in Africa, 1980]]

On November 6, 1975 Morocco launched the [[Green March]] into Western Sahara. About 350,000 unarmed [[Morocco|Moroccans]] accompanied by the Moroccan Army armed with heavy weapons 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 of international pressure, Spain acceded to Moroccan demands, and entered bilateral negotiations. This led to the [[Madrid Accords|Madrid Agreement]] and the [[Western Sahara partition agreement]], treaties that divided the administration of the territory between Morocco and Mauritania, but did not impact the sovereignty debate. Spain, Morocco and Mauritania did not consult the Sahrawi population, and the Polisario violently opposed the treaties. The developments chance in the region until the 1990s were strongly influenced by the power struggle of the [[Cold War]]. [[Algeria]], [[Libya]] and [[Mali]] were allied to the [[Eastern bloc]]. [[Morocco]] was the only African country in the region that was allied to the [[Western world|West]].

Algeria gave help to the Movimiento de Liberación del Sahara,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cowl|first1=Carl|last2=Augier|first2=Pierre|date=September 1977|title=Algeria (Sahara)|journal=Ethnomusicology|volume=21|issue=3|page=533|doi=10.2307/850751|jstor=850751|issn=0014-1836}}</ref> that in the late 1960s and early 1970s formed a section of new ''split youngs''. The majority of the Sahrawi people supported its patriotic actions and identified with this movement, which later was called Polisario,<ref>{{Citation|title=Appendix 2. Tribes in Western Sahara|date=2017-01-31|work=Sovereignty in Exile|pages=247–250|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|doi=10.9783/9780812293159-011|isbn=978-0-8122-9315-9}}</ref> and gradually had more misunderstandings with the Autonomous and [[Madrid|Central Government]] of the Metropoli for the signs of a ''vacilante'', or feeble foreign policy, made up by generals that had the "última palabra" or "last word", feeling a possible betrayal of the ''Motherland''.

On November 14, 1975, Spain, Morocco and Mauritania signed the Madrid Accords, hence setting up a timetable for the retrieval of Spanish forces and ending Spanish occupation of Western Sahara.  These accords were signed by the three parties in accordance with all international standards.  In these accords, Morocco was set to annex back 2/3 of the northern part of Western Sahara, whereas the lower third would be given to Mauritania.
Polisario established their own Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and combined guerrilla warfare with their conventional military forces, the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

On February 26, 1976 Spain's formal mandate over the territory ended when it handed administrative power on to Morocco in a ceremony in Laayoune. The day after, the Polisario proclaimed in [[Bir Lehlou]] the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]] (SADR) as a [[government in exile]]. 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 a bold raid on the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott (where a gunshot killed [[El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed|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 [[Moors|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 a desert sand berm, the [[Moroccan Wall]]. 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]], France and by the USA relieved the situation in Morocco, but matters gradually became unsustainable for all parties involved.

===Cease-fire===
In 1991, Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed on a [[United Nations|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]] or unification with Morocco voted on by the Sahrawi 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 dispatched a [[UN peacekeeping|peace-keeping mission]], the [[United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara|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.

Two subsequent attempts to resolve the problem by means of a negotiated political settlement by James Baker, acting as Personal [[Diplomacy|Envoy]] of the [[UN Secretary General]], the first in 2000 and the second in 2003, failed to gain acceptance, the first being rejected by the Polisario and second by Morocco. Both attempts, the first referred to as "The Framework Agreement" and the second commonly referred to as "The Peace Plan", contained the proposal of autonomy for the region under Moroccan sovereignty as core elements of the plans. Failure to gain acceptance by the parties to either proposal was a result of what each of the parties viewed as fundamental flaws in the respective proposals.

The Framework Agreement would have required the parties to agree on the specific terms of a political settlement based on the Autonomy/Sovereignty formula through direct negotiations. Baker presented the Peace Plan as a non-negotiable package that would have obliged each of the parties to accept its terms without further amendment. Both proposals contained elements that would have required popular endorsement of the solution through a referendum of the concerned populations. The UN Security Council declined to formally endorse either of the two proposals, which led eventually to Baker's resignation as Personal Envoy.<ref>{{Citation|last=Smith|first=James D.D.|title=The Imposed Cease-fire: "YOU can't make us"|date=2018-03-13|work=Stopping Wars|pages=217–248|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9780429497117-9|isbn=978-0-429-49711-7}}</ref>

The prolonged cease-fire has held without major disturbances, but Polisario has repeatedly threatened to resume fighting if no breakthrough 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, which 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 "[[forced disappearance|disappeared]]" and other [[human rights]]-campaigners began holding illegal [[Demonstration (people)|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 subsequently dubbed by the [[Independence Intifada (Western Sahara)|Independence Intifada]] by Polisario supporters, broke out. These demonstrations, which continued into the following year, were the most intense in years, and engendered a new wave of interest in the conflict, as well as new fears of instability. Polisario demanded international intervention but declared that it could not stand idly by if the "escalation of repression" continued.

In 2007, Morocco requested U.N. action against a congress to be held by the Polisario Front in Tifariti from December 14 to December 16. Morocco claimed Tifariti was part of a buffer zone and holding the congress there violated a cease-fire between the two parties. Additionally, the Polisario Front had been reported as planning a vote on a proposal for making preparations for war; if passed, it would have been the first time in 16 years preparations for war had been part of the Polisario's strategy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN255858.html|title=Morocco says Polisario threatens peace in Maghreb|work=[[Reuters]]|date=2007-12-12|access-date=2007-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215134055/http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN255858.html|archive-date=2007-12-15}}</ref>

In October 2010, Gadaym Izik camp was set up near [[Laayoune]] as a protest by displaced [[Sahrawi people]] about their living conditions. It was home to more than 12,000 people. In November 2010, Moroccan security forces entered Gadaym Izik camp in the early hours of the morning, using helicopters and [[water cannon]]s to force people to leave. The Polisario Front said Moroccan security forces had killed a 26-year-old protester at the camp, a claim denied by Morocco. Protesters in Laayoune threw stones at police and set fire to tires and vehicles. Several buildings, including a TV station, were also set afire. Moroccan officials said five security personnel had been killed in the unrest.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11710400|title=Deadly clashes as Morocco breaks up Western Sahara camp|work=[[BBC]]|date=2010-09-11|access-date=2010-11-13}}</ref>
{{See also|2010–2011 Sahrawi protests}}

In 2020, the Polisario Front brought legal action against [[New Zealand]]'s superannuation fund for accepting "blood phosphate" from the occupied region.<ref name="nz">{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/west-saharan-group-takes-new-zealand-superannuation-fund-to-court-over-blood-phosphate |title=West Saharan Group Takes New Zealand Superannuation Fund to Court over 'Blood Phosphate' |last=Doherty |first=Brian |date=March 15, 2020 |access-date=March 15, 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In November [[2020 Western Saharan clashes|a brief conflict]] broke out near the Southern village of [[Guerguerat]], with Morocco claiming to want to end a blockade of a road to Mauritania, and to pave that road.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/morocco-polisario-western-sahara-conflict |title=Tired of stalemate, Sahrawis support Polisario military action against Morocco |author=Habibulah Mohamed Lamin |work=Middle East Eye |date=20 November 2020 |access-date=22 November 2020}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Western Sahara|History}}
* [[Ali Salem Tamek]]
* [[Almoravids]]
* [[Berlin Conference]]
* [[Brahim Dahane]]
* [[James Riley (Captain)]]
* [[João Fernandes (explorer)]]
* [[Mohamed Daddach]]
* [[Mohamed Elmoutaoikil]]
* [[Sahrawi (disambiguation)]]
* [[Scramble for Africa]]
* [[Spanish Sahara]]
* [[Western Saharan cuisine]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{commons category}}
* {{cite book|last1=Aguirre |first1=Diego |last2=Ramón |first2=José |title=Historia del Sahara Español. La verdad de una traición |publisher=Kaydeda |location= Madrid |language=es |year= 1987}}
* {{cite web| website=Balagan.org.uk| url=http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/iberia/1956/index.htm| title=Chronology of Spanish Sahara| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007202021/http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/iberia/1956/index.htm |archive-date=2006-10-07}}
* {{cite book|title=Western Sahara: Roots of a Desert War |last= Hodges |first=Tony |year= 1983 |publisher= L. Hill |isbn=  0-88208-152-7}}
* {{cite book|title=Western Sahara |last= János |first=Besenyő  |date= 20 August 2009 |publisher= Besenyő János |isbn= 978-963-88332-0-4}}
* {{cite book|title=Western Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalemate |last=Jensen |first=Erik |year=2005 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |isbn= 1-58826-305-3}}
* {{cite book|title=Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival |last= King |first=Dean |year= 2004 |publisher= Little, Brown |isbn= 978-0-316-83514-5}}
* {{cite news |last=McIntosh |first=Roderick J. |year=1998 |title=Chapter 2 |work=The Peoples of the Middle Niger |publisher=Oxford}}
* {{cite book|last=Mercer |first=J. |title= Spanish Sahara|location=  London|publisher= George, Allen & Unwin|year=1976}}
* {{cite journal |last=Mundy |first=Jacob|title=Neutrality or complicity? The United States and the 1975 takeover of the Spanish Sahara|journal= Journal of North African Studies|date= September 2006|issue=3|pages= 275–306|doi=10.1080/13629380600803001|s2cid=145455013}}
* {{cite book|title=Endgame in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa's Last Colony? |last=Shelley |first=Toby |date=6 November 2004 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=1-84277-341-0}}
* {{cite book|title=Western Sahara: A Comprehensive Bibliography|url=https://archive.org/details/westernsaharacom0000sipe|url-access=registration|last= Sipe |first=Lynn F.|publisher= Garland Publ.|location= New York|year= 1984|isbn=978-0-8240-9125-5 }}
* {{cite web|website=Arso.org|title=Thematic bibliography: general: The question of Western Sahara  |url=http://www.arso.org/biblio-1.htm}}

{{Spanish Empire}}
{{History of Africa}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Western Sahara}}
[[Category:History of Western Sahara| ]]