General information
Part of Conflict: Mauritania: Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)
Date of first stated goals of incompatibility: 1975-07-06
Comment on date of first stated goal of incompatibility: POLISARIO first announced its incompatibility vis-à-vis Mauritania on 6 July 1975. Following the revelation of a secret agreement between Morocco and Mauritania to divide the territory of Western Sahara (then Spanish Sahara) between them, POLISARIO issued a statement arguing that “Faced with this threat, it is no longer a question of fighting against colonialism for independence; it is simply a question of the existence of our people. (…) We affirm that there will be no peace in the Sahara so long as the people have not been able to exercise their right to self-determination."
Date of first use of armed force: 1975-12-10
Comment on date of first use of armed force: In mid-December 1975, the Spanish news agency Cifra reported that bloody clashes between Mauritanian forces and POLISARIO had been taking place since 10 December.
First Battle Related Death: 1975-12-10
Comment on First Battle Related Death: The first bloody clashes between Mauritanian forces and POLISARIO were reported to have begun 10 December 1975. On 28 December, Mauritania announced a total 94 people had been killed between 10 and 19 December. Most likely, the first battle-related death occurred on the first day of clashes.
Date when dyad reached 25 battle releated deaths: 1975-12-19
Comment on date when dyad reached 25 battle related deaths: The first bloody clashes between Mauritanian forces and POLISARIO were reported to have begun 10 December 1975. By 19 December, a total 94 people had been killed in these clashes, according to a later Mauritanian report. Thus, the threshold of 25 battle-related deaths was reached at the latest on 19 December, but may have been reached a few days earlier.
Conflict issues
Annual information
This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.
1975
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 25 |
| Best | 25 |
| Low | 0 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Mauritania): n/a
Side B (POLISARIO): n/a
1976
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 25 |
| Best | 25 |
| Low | 0 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Mauritania): n/a
Side B (POLISARIO): n/a
1977
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 950 |
| Best | 950 |
| Low | 950 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Mauritania): n/a
Side B (POLISARIO): n/a
1978
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 25 |
| Best | 25 |
| Low | 0 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Mauritania): n/a
Side B (POLISARIO): n/a
1979
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Mauritania): n/a
Side B (POLISARIO): n/a
Peace agreements
Name of peace agreement: Algiers Agreement
Date when warring parties signed the agreement: 1979-08-10
Comment of peace agreement: Full peace agreement
On 10 August 1979, POLISARIO and the government of Mauritania signed a peace agreement in Algiers, whereby Mauritania gave up all claims to Western Sahara.
In terms of regulation of armed activities, Mauritania promised to withdraw its forces from Western Sahara.
With regards to the incompatibility between the parties, Mauritania recognised POLISARIO as the representatives of the Saharawi people. POLISARIO, for its part, promised not to make any territorial claims to Mauritanian territory.
The agreement also provided for joint mechanisms to oversee implementation. On 14 August, the Mauritanian Prime Minister issued a declaration accompanying the agreement, where he called for Morocco to also withdraw from Western Sahara and urged the international community to help ensure the territory’s independence.
Signatories: Government of Mauritania
POLISARIO
Comment of signatories: The agreement was signed in the presence of Mauritanian government representative Lt.-Col. Ahmed Salem Ould Sidi, POLISARIO’s Deputy Secretary-General Bachir Mustapha Sayed, and four Algerian ministers.
Third parties: Algeria
Comment of third parties role in peace agreement: The agreement was facilitated and witnessed by Algerian representatives.
Comment of Duration: The agreement was not contested by any of the warring parties, POLISARIO and Mauritania. However, immediately after the agreement was signed, Morocco announced its intention to occupy the part of Western Sahara ceded to POLISARIO. As Mauritania withdrew, Moroccan troops moved in and occupied the territory, pronouncing it a Morroccan province under the name Oued ed-Dahab.
Full-text peace agreement
Dyad Archive
This section contains annual information no longer systematically collected by the UCDP.
1975 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: The first incidents of fighting in the conflict between POLISARIO and the government of Mauritania were reported in December 1975. Fighting took place around the border between Mauretania and the southern part of Western Sahara (territory claimed by Mauretania).
Negotiations: NO
Victory: NO
Terminated: NO
1976 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: Fighting between POLISARIO and Moroccan forces escalated in 1976. POLISARIO apparently focused their efforts on the conflict with Mauritania rather than that with the militarily stronger Morocco, hoping to first achieve a military victory against Mauritania. In early 1976, POLISARIO captured a Mauritian post near Tirifati in the northeastern part of Mauritanian-claimed Western Sahara. In June, the group carried out a spectacular assault against Mauritania’s capital, Nouakchott. Attacking with a force of some 600-800 fighters, POLISARIO was discovered about a day’s journey from Noaukchott and suffered heavy losses in an ensuing battle, including the death of its founder and leader El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed. However, a small contingent managed to advance close to the capital and launch a small-scale mortar attack.
Negotiations: NO
Comment on Negotiations: Various parties made attempts to initiate a peace process in the two conflicts over Western Sahara in 1976. In late January, Egypt’s Vice President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak held talks with Mauritanian, Moroccan and Algerian representatives in an attempt to initiate negotiations, but without any major progress. The UN, also in late January, appointed the Swedish permanent representative Olof Rydbeck as a special mediator for the Western Sahara conflict, with the mission to achieve a solution that would allow the Saharawi people self-determination. During February, Rydbeck held talks with Mauritanian, Moroccan and Spanish officials, as well as with Saharawi organizations. In late March/early April he met with POLISARIO officials. However, no negotiations were initiated the Mauritanian government refused to hold further talks following Rydbeck’s meeting with POLISARIO. In November, another attempt to initiate negotiations was made by Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia, but again no progress was made.
Victory: NO
Terminated: NO
1977 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: In early 1977, POLISARIO claimed that it had advanced deep into Mauritania, and that the latter’s forces were on the defensive. In July, POLISARIO carried out a new attack against Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott (a previous such raid had taken place in June 1976). Meanwhile, as part of their campaign to disrupt the mining industry, POLISARIO also attacked foreign workers and took several French citizens hostage. In May, the rebels attacked Zouerate, killing two French citizens working there and taking another six hostage, and in October two more French citizens were kidnapped. These developments prompted a strong response from France, which deployed troops and aircraft against POLISARIO. However, the French government in an official statement declared that they were not taking sides in the conflict and still supported self-determination for the Saharawi people, and thus the operation is not considered to be secondary warring support on the side of Mauretania.
Negotiations: NO
Comment on Negotiations: Attempts to bring about negotiations continued in 1977. In November, Egypt’s Vice President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak met with Mauritanian, Moroccan and Algerian representatives. However, no talks between Mauritania and POLISARIO took place in 1977.
Victory: NO
Terminated: NO
1978 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: In late 1977, POLISARIO had been weakened by the French offensive. However, by early 1978 the group appeared to have regained some strength, succeeding in interrupting rail traffic and carrying out urban guerrilla activity in Nouadhibou, the second largest city in Mauritania and bordering Western Sahara. Meanwhile, the government of Mauritania was overthrown in a bloodless coup on 10 July 1978, and a Military Committee for National Recovery (Comité Militaire de Redressement National, CMRN) was established. Mustapha Ould Mohamed Salek, who led the coup, announced that it was carried out as a result of the economic and political crisis (which was to a large extent the result of the fighting with POLISARIO), and that the CMRN was positive towards seeking a solution to the conflict. Two days later, on 12 July, POLISARIO announced a unilateral ceasefire, which was extended indefinitely in September.
Negotiations: YES
Comment on Negotiations: On 10 July, the Mauritanian government was deposed in a coup and replaced by a Military Committee for National Recovery (Comité Militaire de Redressement National, CMRN). Two days after the coup, POLISARIO announced a unilateral ceasefire as a “gesture of goodwill”. Algeria, POLISARIO’s main external backer, commented that the coup had resulted in “a dynamic for peace”. In August, a settlement proposal supported by Mauritania and France was presented. The proposal suggested that the Mauritanian-occupied part of Western Sahara would become a POLISARIO-governed autonomous region under within a Mauritanian federation. However, the plan was rejected by POLISAIRO, and also by Morocco which said it could not allow the existence a territory governed by POLISARIO neighbouring Morocco.
In September, POLISARIO indefinitely extended the ceasefire and at the same time outlined its demands: withdrawal of Mauritanian troops and recognition of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). In September and October, and again in December, direct negotiations took place between POLISARIO and the Mauritanian government. However, the talks yielded no initial results, and POLISARIO accused Morocco of sabotaging the talks though pressure on Mauritania. A proposal endorsed by Mauritania, Algeria and Libya, suggesting a referendum in the Mauritanian-held part of Western Sahara and the creation of a Mauritanian corridor between that territory and Morocco, was rejected by POLISARIO.
Victory: NO
Terminated: YES
Type of termination: Ceasefire
Date of termination: 1978-07-12
Comment on Termination: Following the coup on 10 July, POLISARIO two days later announced a unilateral ceasefire. Following this, no more armed activity was reported in the conflict. The ceasefire was extended indefinitely in September.
Comment on Termination Date: The ceasefire was announced on 12 July 1978.
1979 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
