* 1976 – The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Libya also was one of the main supporters of the Polisario Front in the former Spanish Sahara – a nationalist group dedicated to ending Spanish colonialism in the region.

* Libya was also was one the main supporters of the Polisario Front in the former Spanish Sahara – a nationalist group dedicated to ending Spanish colonialism in the region, and from 1975, to combatting the Moroccan occupation of what is now known as Western Sahara.

Libyan support for the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara facilitated early post independence Algerian relations with Libya.

However, after nearly three years of raids by the Sahrawi guerrillas of the Polisario Front, Mauritania's economic and political stability began to crumble.

After the Polisario Front shot down one Defender and damaged two in 1978 the Mauritanian government ordered six IA-85 Pucaras for ground attack duties from Argentina ; this order was later cancelled after a Mauritanian military coup.

But Madrid also announced that it was opening independence talks with the Algerian-backed Saharan independence movement known as the Polisario Front.

In 1988, Morocco and the Polisario Front finally agreed on a United Nations ( UN ) peace plan, and a cease-fire and settlement plan went into effect in 1991.

As a result of Algeria's continued support for the Polisario Front in the dispute over Western Sahara, relations between Morocco and Algeria have remained strained over the past several decades.

The Polisario Front claims to represent the aspirations of the Western Saharan inhabitants for independence.

In 1973, the Polisario Front ( Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro ) formed to combat the Spanish occupation of the territory.

On Feb. 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.

From 1973 the colonizers gradually lost control over the countryside to the armed guerrillas of the Polisario Front, a nationalist organization.

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 PUNS, which by this time also advocated independence.

In 1991 Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed on a UN-backed cease-fire in the Settlement Plan.

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.

In addition, the Polisario Front has been reported as planning a vote on a proposal for making preparations for war.

The Polisario Front said Moroccan security forces had killed a 26-year-old protester at the camp, a claim denied by Morocco.

The major bulk of Saharawis became refugees during the war between the Polisario Front and Morocco.

The conflict is largely between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Algerian-backed nationalist organization the Polisario Front ( Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro ), which in February 1976 formally proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic ( SADR ), now basically administered by a government in exile in Tindouf, Algeria.

A referendum on independence or integration with Morocco was agreed upon by Morocco and the Polisario Front in 1991, but it has yet to take place.

The government-in-exile of the Polisario Front had also signed contracts for oil exploration, but there is no practical work, due to the fact that the zones given are on the Moroccan-controlled part of the territory.

The territory — an area of wasteland and desert bordering the Atlantic Ocean between Mauritania and Morocco — is contested by Morocco and the Polisario ( an independence movement based in the region of Tindouf, Algeria ).

Western Sahara, formerly the Spanish colony of Spanish Sahara, is a disputed territory claimed by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front.

Another section, the Liberated Territories, is administered by the Polisario Front as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic ( SADR ).

In order to resolve the sovereignty issue, the UN has attempted to hold a referendum through the mission United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara ( MINURSO ), and is holding direct talks between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front.

Morocco is supported in this view by a number of former Polisario founders and leaders.

The Polisario Front is considered by Morocco to be a Moroccan separatist movement, referring to the Moroccan origins of most of its founding members, and its self-proclaimed SADR to be a puppet state used by Algeria to fight a proxy war against Morocco.

The Polisario Front is a national liberation movement that opposes Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.

Although the SADR is not recognised as a state by the UN, the Polisario is considered a direct participant in the conflict as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, recognized by the United Nations since 1979.

The Polisario Front argues that Morocco's position is due to economical interests ( fishing, phosphate mining, and the potential for oil ) and political reasons ( stability of the king's position and the governing elite in Morocco and the positioning of the Moroccan Army ).

Since 1976, Algeria has supported the Polisario Front, a group claiming to represent the population of Western Sahara, which is based among the 90, 000 Sahrawi refugees who reside in refugee camps in Algeria.

International disputes :: part of Algeria's south-eastern region is also claimed by Libya ; Algeria supports the exiled Polisario Front of the Western Sahara ; it rejects the Moroccan administration of the Western Sahara ; some countries question Algeria's use of capital punishment.

It is the southernmost town of Western Sahara, claimed by both Morocco and the Polisario Front ; however, Lagouira is situated south of the Moroccan Wall, and abandoned by both Moroccan and Polisario forces.

The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, or POLISARIO, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro (" Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro " Al-Jabhat Al-Sha ' abiyah Li-Tahrir Saqiya Al-Hamra ' a wa Wadi Al-Dhahab ), is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco.

The Polisario Front is an observer member of Socialist International.

The Polisario Front is outlawed in the Morocco-controlled part of Western Sahara, and raising its flag is also illegal.

The Polisario is first and foremost a nationalist organization, whose main goal is the independence of Western Sahara.

* Bahir Dkill, founder member of the Polisario, former representative of the organization in several countries

In 1975, as Spain pulled out following the Madrid Accords, Morocco sought to gain control over the area, leading to disputes between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the organization which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in February 1976.

According to former members of Polisario now aligned with Morocco, Abdelaziz was " chosen " by Algeria at the top of the organization although he did not belong to the very closed circle of the organization's founders and " he always considered himself to be their man .".

The Polisario separatist organization controls the remaining third, which is isolated from the ocean, mostly empty of any population, dry, and unfit for conventional urbanization or any basic economic activity.

In 1974-75 the Polisario Front slowly seized control over the desert countryside, and quickly became the most important nationalist organization in the country.

At this point, the Polisario remained a relatively small organization of perhaps 800 fighters and activists, although supported by a vastly larger network of sympathizers.