A Moroccan court has jailed 14 Western Sahara human rights activists and some of their supporters for six months to three years for their role in riots in the disputed Moroccan-controlled territory. Court officials and lawyers said the court in Western Sahara's main town, Laayoune, announced the verdict early on Wednesday at the end of a 14-hour hearing. Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975, claiming historic sovereignty rights over the mostly desert territory. The move triggered a sporadic guerrilla war with the Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state in the mineral-rich territory. A UN ceasefire was brokered in 1991 with the promise of holding a referendum to decide on the fate of the area, believed to have offshore oil deposits. Disagreements between the two sides about who is eligible to vote have prevented it from taking place.