SUMMARY
The conflict over Western Sahara broke out after Spain withdrew from the territory in 1975. While Mauritania claimed sovereignty over the southern part of Western Sahara, POLISARIO (Frente popular de liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro; Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro) launched an armed struggle for its independence in 1975. The conflict ended with a ceasefire in 1978, following which a peace agreement was signed between the parties. However, as Mauritania withdrew from the territory, it was seized by Morocco, which remained in conflict with POLISARIO.
IN DEPTH
Incompatible claims over Western Sahara and armed conflict (1975-1978)
The territory known as Western Sahara was annexed by Spain in 1884 and the province of Spanish Sahara was created in 1958 by the merger of the southern Rio de Oro and the northern Saguia el Hamra colonies. The settled population was referred to as Saharawis. In two UN resolutions in the early 1970s, UN called for Spain (in cooperation with Morocco and Mauritania) to set a date for a referendum to decide the future status of the territory. First reluctant to specify this date, Spain in 1974 finally indicated that the referendum was to be held the following year. However, Morocco and Mauritania both rejected the proposal and presented claims of historical ties and former sovereignty over the territory; Morocco’s claim concerned the whole territory and Mauritania’s concerned the southern part Rio de Oro. A major reason for the territorial claims was probably the large resources of phosphate in the territory, reportedly the worlds largest known phosphate deposit.
Meanwhile, several political as well as armed groups emerged within Spanish Sahara, all with different objectives, among them POLISARIO (Frente popular de liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro; Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro). POLISARIO was formed on 10 May 1973, and was initially led by El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed, who had been one of the main forces behind the group’s creation. After his death in action in June 1976, he was replaced by Mohammed Abdelaziz who has remained the Secretary-General of the group since then. POLISARIO also created an armed branch, SPLA (Saharawi People’s Liberation Army) and declared the intention to fight for full independence for Western Sahara. During 1974-1975, POLISARIO acquired a strong support-base among the Saharawi people.
Immediately following the formation of POLISARIO, the group began to conduct guerrilla attacks in the territory. However, up until mid-1975, its fighters mainly clashed with Spanish troops. In mid-1975 it was revealed that Morocco and Mauritania had reached a secret agreement to partition Spanish Sahara: the northern part Saguia el Hamra would become a Moroccan territory whereas the southern Rio de Oro would go to Mauritania. After this news, POLISARIO’s armed struggle shifted towards these two states, marking the beginning of both the Mauritania (Western Sahara) and the Morocco (Western Sahara) conflicts (for more information on the latter conflict, see the database entry for Morocco). In the territory claimed by Mauritania, POLISARIO began targeting Mauritanian forces instead of Spanish soldiers.
Meanwhile, Spain, in internal disarray due to the terminal illness of General Franco and fearing confrontation with Morocco, in late 1975 entered into an agreement ceding administration of Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania. This agreement came despite the UN calls for self-determination, as well as an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling affirming that neither Morocco nor Mauritania had any historical ties to the territory which motivated denying the inhabitants self-rule. As Spanish forces began to withdraw, Mauritanian troops moved into Rio de Oro, the southern part of Western Sahara. On 26 February, Spain completed its withdrawal from the territory and on the following day, POLISARIO proclaimed the independent Sahara Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
Conflict dimensions and external support
The first incidents of fighting in the conflict between POLISARIO (Frente popular de liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro; Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro) and the government of Mauritania were reported in December 1975. From the onset of the two conflicts over Western Sahara, POLISARIO focused its military activity against Mauritania, the weaker of its two adversaries. The aim was to achieve sufficient military successes to drive Mauritania out of the territory, allowing the rebels to subsequently concentrate their forces against Morocco. Thus, the years following the onset of the conflict in late 1975 saw some heavy fighting between Mauritanian forces and POLISARIO, which on two occasions managed to advance as far as the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. The first of these attacks, carried out in June 1976, resulted in the death of POLISARIO’s founder and leader El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed, who was later that year replaced by Mohammed Abdelaziz.
The rebels also targeted Mauritania’s mining industry, causing severe disruption of the economy. As part of their campaign to disrupt the mining industry, POLISARIO also attacked foreign workers and took several French citizens hostage, prompting a military intervention by France in 1977. In December that year, POLISARIO fighters were on several occasions attacked by French Jaguar aircraft. 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 does not constitute secondary warring support on the side of Mauretania.
Apart from the intervention in 1977, France provided other forms of support to Mauretania in the form of training, military equipment and logistic and technical assistance. In 1977, following POLISARIO attacks on French citizens in Mauritania, France increased the number of military experts and instructors. POLISARIO, for its part, was supported particularly by Algeria and Libya. Algeria provided military supplies and allowed the rebels to have bases on its territory. The assistance from Algeria was crucial, and it is considered unlikely that POLISARIO would have been able to continue waging war without its help.
In late 1977, POLISARIO had been weakened by the French offensive, but by early 1978 the group appeared to have regained its strength and again succeeded in disrupting economic activity. By this time, the conflict had begun to take a heavy toll on Mauritania, its economy in crisis and the population as well as the army becoming increasingly disillusioned by the continuing conflict. On 10 July 1978, the government of Mauritania was overthrown in a bloodless coup, 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 the CMRN was positive towards seeking a solution to the conflict. Two days later, on 12 July, POLISARIO announced a unilateral ceasefire.
Negotiations and agreement between Mauritania and POLISARIO
From the beginning, various concerned parties made attempts to initiate a peace process in the two conflicts over Western Sahara. In late January 1976, 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 a special mediator for the Western Sahara conflict, with the mission to achieve a solution that would allow the Saharawi people self-determination. During the spring of 1976, the special mediator Olof Rydbeck held talks with Mauritanian, Moroccan and Spanish officials, as well as with Saharawi organisations and POLISARIO (Frente popular de liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro; Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro) representatives. However, no negotiations were initiated and the Mauritanian government refused to hold further talks following Rydbeck’s meeting with POLISARIO. Subsequent attempts along similar lines also failed to make any progress.
The situation changed following the coup in Mauritania on 10 July 1978, which saw the establishment of a Military Committee for National Recovery (Comité Militaire de Redressement National, CMRN) which declared its willingness to resolve the conflict. 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”. Direct negotiations between POLISARIO and the new Mauritanian government were initiated in September the same year. At the beginning of these talks, 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). On 5 August 1979, a peace agreement was signed by the two parties. The Algiers Agreement stipulated that Mauritania gave up all claims to Western Sahara, promised to withdraw its forces from the part of the territory it had occupied, and recognised POLISARIO as the representatives of the Saharawi people. POLISARIO, for its part, promised not to make any territorial claims against Mauritania.
Following the ceasefire in July 1978, the conflict between POLISARIO and Mauritania remained inactive and is considered terminated as of that date. However, immediately after the Algiers Agreement was announced, Morocco declared 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. Thus, the conflict between POLISARIO and the Mauritanian government had ended, but the territory which the conflict had been fought over now became a part of the conflict between POLISARIO and Morocco (for more information, see the database entry for that country).
