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The Western Sahara Autonomy Proposal is an initiative proposed by Morocco in 2006 as a possible solution to the Western Sahara conflict. In 2006, the Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) proposed a plan for the autonomy of Western Sahara and made visits to a number of countries to explain the proposal. The Spanish approach to regional autonomy has been named as a possible model for Western Saharan autonomy, mentioning specifically the cases of the Canary Islands, the Basque Country, Andalusia or Catalonia. The plan was presented to the UN Security Council in April 2007 [1] and received the backing of the United States and France. [2] This initiative constituted the main ground for the Moroccan proposal at Manhasset negotiations.
The proposal was following the two failed proposals of Baker Plan, which insisted on an independence referendum for Western Sahara after five years of autonomy; the plan was rejected by Morocco. A proposal was also published by Polisario to the UN on 10 April 2007, a day before the Moroccan proposal. The UN Security Council unanimously voted for Resolution 1754 on 30 April 2007 calling for talks of both parties, appreciating the proposal of Morocco and taking note of Polisario's proposal. Based on the proposal, there were four UN-sponsored peace talks between delegations of Polisario and Morocco on 18–19 June 2007, 10–11 August 2007, 7–9 January 2008 and 18–19 March 2008, all of which were held in Manhasset, New York.
The portions of Western Sahara was a Spanish Colony until 1975 as the last colonial province in Africa. [3] A war erupted between those countries and the Sahrawi national liberation movement, the Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government in exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. [4] Polisario was formed in 1973 to fight for the rights of Sahawari Arab African People. Polisario attacked Moroccan positions many times and have retaliated. Continued war was waged between Polisario and Morocco over prominence in the region backed by Algeria for Polisario and US, France and Saudi Arabia for Morocco. [5]
Morocco started building a massive wall to reduce the attacks and military activity. During November to December 1987, a United Nations peace mission arrived to assess the military and political impact of the wall. They sought a face-to-face meeting with Polisario and Morocco to arrive at a ceasefire and initiate proceedings for a referendum. They had different meetings with Morocco, Algeria and Polisario and proposed a resolution which was passed unopposed. During the time, Algeria, which had been a long-time ally of Polisario, held secret meetings with Morocco at the foreign ministry level. By May 1988, both countries announced that diplomatic relations between the countries would be restored. During July 1988, Moroccan King Hassan expressed his support for a referendum, but declined to name Western Sahara an independent state, but a special administrative region. He also denied meeting with Polisario. In spite of the UN's continued effort, the denial introduced criticism of Morocco's positions by Polisario. King Hassan agreed to meet representatives from SADR. During 1989, Algeria claimed that it would continue to support SADR amidst growing concern of Algeria breaking links with SADR. King Hassan's elongated delay frustrated SADR and they started an attack. [6] During the first week of October 1989, Polisario started attacks on Moroccan positions in Guelta-Zemmour, which forced Moroccan troops 25 kilometers inside the defensive wall. The group also claimed that they secured the 1st Light Security Group of the 4th and 5th Rapid Intervention Force of Morocco. They also attacked Moroccan positions in the North towards Hauza on October 11. [6] Following the attacks King Hassan called off the second meeting with SADR representatives. [7]
The fighting continued till 1 September 1991 when a UN mission brokered peace a ceasefire in the region. There have been various proposals by both the parties in the United Nations. James Baker, an American diplomat in the region worked out a couple of settlement plans, called Baker Plan after 1997. In the first plan, he proposed autonomy to the region with foreign affairs and defense managed by Morocco. The plan was rejected by Polisario, indicating that any proposal without independence could not be accepted. They also argued that the count of natives should be based on the census of 1975 and not based on migrants from Morocco in the interim period. [8] The second proposal called for a referendum after five years of autonomy. The plan was accepted by Morocco initially, but later rejected quoting that any plan with proposal of independence could not be accepted. [9] The plan was rejected by Morocco and Baker left the position in 2004. [10]
Moroccan-backed advisory council on Western Sahara (CORCAS) submitted a proposal to the United Nations in April 2006 that would grant autonomy to the people of Western Sahara. As per the plan, the Sahawaris would run their government under Moroccan sovereignty. It also indicated that Morocco will control defense and foreign affairs. The Moroccan authorities indicated that the failure of the proposal would increase Islamic fundamental ideas and terrorism in the region around the Sahel. Hamid Chabar, the Moroccan representative of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara quoted that "There are a lot of young people in the Sahel who are leaning towards radical Islam, with groups such as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat gaining ground". The claims were denied by Polisario which stated that it never supported terrorism. The autonomy proposal was rejected by the front in February 2004 soon as it was proposed, while Morocco sought the backing of the United States to take it forward. [10] A proposal was also published by Polisario to the UN on 10 April 2007, a day before the Moroccan proposal. The UN Security unanimously voted for Resolution 1754 on 30 April 2007, calling for talks of both parties, appreciating the proposal of Morocco and taking note of Polisario's proposal. Based on the proposal, there were four UN-sponsored peace talks between the delegation of Polisario and Morocco 18–19 June 2007, 10–11 August 2007, 7–9 January 2008, and 7–9 January 2008, all of which were held in New York City. [11]
In a 2007 letter to President George W. Bush, 173 members of the US Congress endorsed the plan. [12] In a letter to President Obama in 2009, 233 US congressmen endorsed the plan. [13] In 2010, a letter to Secretary of State Clinton backing the Moroccan plan for autonomy, was signed by 54 Senators. [14]
On 19 March 2022, the Spanish and Moroccan press suggested the president of the Spanish Government had provisionally accepted this proposal, although parliamentary ratification was not assured [15]
Rank | Country | Date | Remarks | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States | 2020-12-10 | On 10 December 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed that the United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. | [16] |
2 | Germany | 2021-12-14 | The German Federal Foreign Office says that the autonomy plan constitutes an important contribution from Morocco to resolve the dispute over the Sahara | [17] |
3 | Spain | 2022-03-18 | “Spain considers the Moroccan autonomy initiative presented in 2007, as the most serious, realistic, and credible basis for resolving the dispute." Sanchez further described the extensive Moroccan efforts to work within the UN's framework to find a peaceful solution to the decades-old conflict. | [18] |
4 | France | 2022-03-22 | France reiterated, Monday, its support to the Moroccan autonomy plan as a "serious and credible basis for discussions" for the resolution of the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara. | [19] [20] |
5 | Netherlands | 2022-05-11 | "Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra expressed his country’s support for Morocco’s initiative during a meeting today with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita." | [21] |
6 | Kenya | 2022-09-14 | Kenyan president formally endorses Morocco's stance in the Western Sahara dispute and says he will move to “wind down” the Polisario's presence in his country. | [22] |
7 | Guatemala | 2022-09-23 | “Guatemala reiterated its clear position on the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, considering that autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the solution to this dispute and announces the decision to open a consulate in the city of Dakhla to take advantage of its economic potential and its openness to the rest of the African continent,” said Guatemalan Foreign Minister Mario Bucaro Flores | [23] |
8 | Somalia | 2022-09-23 | Foreign Minister Mahmoud Abdi Hassan’s call for cooperation follows years of Somali continuous support for Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara which was translated on multiple occasions into concrete actions such as opening a consulate in Dakhla. | [24] |
9 | Cape Verde | 2023-05-09 | The Republic of Cabo Verde has reaffirmed its steadfast support to Morocco's territorial integrity and the Moroccan autonomy plan offering a realistic solution to the Sahara regional conflict. | [25] |
10 | Ukraine | 2023-05-22 | The country's Foreign Affairs Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, reaffirmed Kyiv's position on the Sahara dispute | [26] |
11 | Malta | 2023-06-07 | Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg said that Malta considers Morocco's autonomy plan for the Western Sahara conflict as a credible contribution to the resolution of the conflict. | [27] |
The history of Western Sahara can be traced back to the times of 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 such as the Sanhaja group, and the introduction of Islam and the Arabic language at the end of the 8th century AD.
The politics of Western Sahara take place in a framework of an area claimed by both the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Morocco.
Western Sahara, formerly the Spanish colony of Spanish Sahara, is a disputed territory claimed by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro, which is an independence movement based in Algeria. The Annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco took place in two stages, in 1976 and 1979, and is considered illegal under international law.
The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro, is a rebel Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement claiming Western Sahara.
The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government and military, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan province of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. At that time, the Spanish government was preparing to abandon the territory as part of the decolonization of Africa, just as it had previously granted independence to Equatorial Guinea in 1968. The Sahrawi people aspired to form an independent state. The demonstration of some 350,000 Moroccans advanced several kilometres into the Western Sahara territory. Morocco later gained control over most of the former Spanish Sahara, which it continues to hold.
Mohamed Abdelaziz was the 3rd Secretary General of the Polisario Front, from 1976, and the 1st President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from 1982, until his death in 2016.
The Baker Plan is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara. It was intended to replace the Settlement Plan of 1991, which was further detailed in the Houston Agreement of 1997.
The Houston Agreement was the result of negotiations between the Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, possibly leading to full independence or integration within Morocco. The talks were conducted during 1997 in Houston, United States, under the auspices of United Nations representative James Baker, using the framework of the 1991 Settlement Plan. The agreement was supposed to lead to a referendum in 1998, after it had been prevented from taking place in 1992 as originally envisioned.
The Settlement Plan was an agreement between the ethnically Saharawi Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, leading either to full independence, or integration with the Kingdom of Morocco. It resulted in a cease-fire which remains effective until 2020, and the establishment of the MINURSO peace force to oversee it and to organize the referendum. The referendum never occurred.
The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic/Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict originated from an insurgency by the Polisario Front against Spanish colonial forces from 1973 to 1975 and the subsequent Western Sahara War against Morocco between 1975 and 1991. Today the conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the Polisario Front and their self-proclaimed SADR state to gain fully recognized independence for Western Sahara.
The Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs is an advisory committee to the Moroccan government on Western Sahara. It was created under Mohammed VI in early 2006, after a new autonomy plan proposed by Morocco to replace the United Nations' Baker Plan. The Polisario Front opposes Morocco's autonomy plan, demanding for a referendum and independence.
The politics of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic refers to politics of the Polisario Front's proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a country in North Africa with limited recognition by other states, controlling parts of the Western Sahara region.
Khalihenna Ould-Errachid is a Sahrawi Moroccan politician. He is the president of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), a Moroccan government body supporting Morocco's claim on Western Sahara.
The Manhasset negotiations were a series of talks that took place in four rounds in 2007–2008 at Manhasset, New York between the Moroccan government and the representatives of the Saharawi liberation movement, the Polisario Front to resolve the Western Sahara conflict. They were considered the first direct negotiations in seven years between the two parties. Also present at the negotiations were the neighboring countries of Algeria and Mauritania.
The Western Sahara War was an armed struggle between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991, being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords, by which it transferred administrative control of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania, but not sovereignty. In late 1975, the Moroccan government organized the Green March of some 350,000 Moroccan citizens, escorted by around 20,000 troops, who entered Western Sahara, trying to establish a Moroccan presence. While at first met with just minor resistance by the Polisario Front, Morocco later engaged a long period of guerrilla warfare with the Sahrawi nationalists. During the late 1970s, the Polisario Front, desiring to establish an independent state in the territory, attempted to fight both Mauritania and Morocco. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict after signing a peace treaty with the Polisario Front. The war continued in low intensity throughout the 1980s, though Morocco made several attempts to take the upper hand in 1989–1991. A cease-fire agreement was finally reached between the Polisario Front and Morocco in September 1991. Some sources put the final death toll between 10,000 and 20,000 people.
The Battle of Guelta Zemmur occurred on 7 October 1989, when POLISARIO guerrillas commanded by Lahbib Ayub attacked the village of Guelta Zemmur on the Moroccan side of the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall. The attack was the first major military engagement in the war since 1988, as the Polisario Front had ended negotiations with Morocco in that year. The King of Morocco, Hassan II, responded to the offensive by rejecting a second meeting with POLISARIO leaders. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, at least a hundred soldiers from both sides were killed in the clashes.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state, recognised by 46 UN member states, located in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only the easternmost one-fifth of that territory. Between 1884 and 1975, Western Sahara was known as Spanish Sahara, a Spanish colony. The SADR is one of the two African states in which Spanish is a significant language, the other being Equatorial Guinea.
The Western Sahara peace process refers to the international efforts to resolve the Western Sahara conflict. The conflict has failed so far to result in permanent peace between Morocco and the Polisario Front. The standing issues of the peace process include Sahrawi refugees, and human rights in Western Sahara.
Sahrawi nationalism is a political ideology that seeks self-determination of the Sahrawi people, the indigenous population of Western Sahara. It has historically been represented by the Polisario Front. It came as a reaction against Spanish colonialist policies imposed from 1958 on, and subsequently in reaction to the Mauritanian and Moroccan invasions of 1975.
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