Noref Briefing on Western Sahara March 2009
12 November 2010
Western Sahara has been the site of active or frozen conflict since 1975. Spain, the colonial power until
1975, originally planned to organize a referendum on self-determination for the people of Western
Sahara. Instead, in 1974, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an
advisory opinion on the status of the territory -- at the request of Morocco and Mauritania.
Related article - Noref guest article: George Joffe: Western Sahara: Conflict without End?
