Western Sahara Autonomy Proposal

The Western Sahara Autonomy Proposal is an initiative, proposed by Morocco in 2006 as a possible solution to the Western Sahara conflict. In 2006 the Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) proposed a plan for the autonomy of Western Sahara and made visits to a number of countries to explain the proposal. The Spanish approach to regional autonomy has been named as a possible model for Western Saharan autonomy, mentioning specifically the cases of the Canary Islands, the Basque Country, Andalusia or Catalonia. The plan was presented to the UN Security Council in April 2007, and has received the backing of the USA and France. This initiative constitutes the main ground for the Moroccan proposal at Manhasset negotiations.

The proposal was following the two failed proposals of Baker Plan, which insisted on independence referendum to Western Sahara after five years of autonomy - the plan was rejected by Morocco. A proposal was also published by Polisario to the UN on 10 April 2007, a day before the Moroccan proposal. The UN Security unanimously voted the Resolution 1754 on 30 April 2007 calling for talks of both parties, appreciating the proposal of Morocco and taking note of Polaisario's proposal. Based on the proposal, there were four UN sponsored peace talks between delegation of Polisario and Morocco 18-19 June 2007, 10 -11 August 2007, 7-9 January 2008 and 7-9 January 2008, all of which were held in New York City.

The portions of Western Sahara was a Spanish Colony till 1975 as the last colonial province in Africa. A war erupted between those countries and the Sahrawi national liberation movement, the Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government in exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. Polisario was formed in 1973 to fight for the rights of Sahawari Arab African People. Polisario attacked Moroccan positions many times and have retaliated. Continued war was waged between Polisario and Morocco over prominence in the region backed by Algeria for Polisario and US, France and Saudi Arabia for Morocco.

...
Wikipedia