Aljazeera has quoted the leader of the Polisario Front fighting for the independence of Moroccan-administered Western Sahara as threatening to resume armed action against the kingdom. Speaking at a ceremony on Saturday marking the 32nd anniversary of the creation of the Polisario Front, its leader Mohamed Abdelaziz said the people of Western Sahara were struggling by all legitimate means, including armed struggle, to gain their rights, Aljazeera reported. "The Sahrawi people cannot remain indefinitely with their arms folded," an Algerian Press Agency report quoted him as saying.Morocco annexed Western Sahara after former colonial ruler Spain pulled out of the large, phosphate-rich desert territory in 1975. The Polisario Front took up arms for independence the following year. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, for his part, congratulated the Polisario on the anniversary and pledged Algiers' continued support for the movement. Bouteflika's statement of support came on the eve of the Arab Maghreb summit, due to be held in Libya, Aljazeera reported, adding that the organisation's functioning has been paralysed in recent years by the deadlock over the Western Sahara dispute.
| Got the internal conflict wearing down, so maybe a little foreign adventurism will bring the old populace together. I suppose it'll burn off the cream of the domestic Commies, but I'd also guess it'll come back to bit them later... |