Western Sahara talks will continue despite clashes

10/11/10 07:19 CET

world news

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Despite some of the worst violence seen in the long running dispute over Western Sahara, UN-brokered talks in New York are set to resume in December.
A reluctant Polisario independence movement agreed to continue with the diplomatic initiative.

Western Sahara is a former Spanish territory but was annexed by Morocco in 1975.
The pro-independence Polisario Front has waged war against Rabat until a fragile ceasefire in 1991.

Yesterday pro-Moroccan supporters took to the streets of Sahara’s main city Laayoune carrying flags and machetes.

It followed Monday’s violence when Moroccan security forces broke up a protest camp against Moroccan rule. Polisario said 11 civilians died.

At the UN talks Rabat has proposed that Western Sahara become an autonomous region of Morocco while Polisario has insisted on a referendum among the indigenous Sahrawis over the issue.

More about: Clashes and riots, Morocco, Western Sahara

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