After the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, Morocco has become the fourth Arab country to normalise ties with Israel in last five months.
- In return for Morocco’s decision to establish formal ties with Israel, the U.S. has recognised it’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory in northwestern Africa.
Western Sahara controversy and features
- This large, arid and sparsely populated region that shares borders with Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania and has a long Atlantic coast was a Spanish colony.
- The region is home to the Sahrawi tribe.
- In 1973, a guerilla movement sprang up called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Polisario Front), named after the two regions constituting the Spanish province. Later it was called the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
- In 1975, as part of the Madrid Accords with Morocco and Mauritania, Spain decided to leave the territory.
- Morocco has controlled around 80 per cent of Western Sahara.
- The SADR has been recognised by around 70 countries, and is a member of the African Union (AU). It lacks recognition from the world’s major powers, as well as the United Nations.
- Over 1 lakh Sahrawis live in refugee camps in Algeria, which continues to support their self-determination efforts, along with Mauritania.
(The Hindu and Indian Express)
