PRO-INDEPENDENCE rebels fighting Morocco for Western Sahara said Saturday the United Nations was responsible for “political deadlock” over the disputed territory, on the 45th anniversary of their unilateral declaration of independence.
The Algeria-backed Polisario Front controls about a fifth of the vast, arid territory of Western Sahara, and is demanding a promised UN-run referendum on self-determination.
Morocco has offered autonomy but maintains the territory is a sovereign part of the kingdom.
“The Polisario Front tried for 29 years to avoid war by making concessions, but it has faced a total absence of cooperation both from the Moroccan side and the UN,” Polisario official Khatri Addouh charged Saturday, cited by official Sahrawi news agency SPS.
The UN is responsible for the “political deadlock” on the Sahrawi question due to its “laxity” in the face of Morocco, Addouh was quoted as saying from a Sahrawi refugee camp near the Algerian desert
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