Algeria ends friendship with Spain over Western Sahara issue

After Spain left the Spanish colony of Western Sahara in 1975, Morocco annexed the area. Moroccans were encouraged to settle in the region. The original inhabitants of the area, the Sahrawi, waged an armed struggle against Moroccan rule under the flag of Polisario until the United Nations reached a ceasefire in 1991. Morocco promised the people of Western Sahara a referendum on self-determination, but that has still not happened. The Moroccan offer of partial autonomy has been rejected by Polisario.

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