The sovereignty of the Western Sahara remains the subject of a dispute
between the Government of Morocco and the Polisario Front, an organization seeking
independence for the region. The Moroccan Government assumed administration
of the northern two-thirds of the Western Sahara after Spain withdrew from
the area in 1975, and it extended its administration to Oued Ed Dahab after
Mauritania renounced its claim to it in 1979. The Moroccan Government has
undertaken a sizable economic development program in the part of the Western
Sahara under its control. Since 1973 the Polisario Front has challenged
successively the claims of Spain, Mauritania, and Morocco to the territory.
Moroccan and Polisario forces had fought intermittently from 1975 to the
1991 cease-fire and deployment to the area of a United Nations peacekeeping
contingent, known by its French initials, MINURSO