Re your March 5 news article on complaints of Moroccan interference in United Nations efforts to determine Western Saharan sovereignty:
The area in question, formerly called Spanish Sahara, was part of the vast empire seized in the 19th century by France and Spain. It is an area slightly smaller than France, virtually devoid of roads and vegetation, sparsely occupied by nomads.
The region has one small city, Laayoune, close to the old Moroccan border, and about a dozen villages. Its only port, Dakla, is used for the transshipment of minerals and is separated by a great distance from the rest of the population. It would be clearly impossible to form a viable nation given these conditions.
After decades of unsuccessful negotiations with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, King Hassan urged the citizens of Morocco to defy the Spanish occupation. About 525,000 unarmed Moroccans walked, drove or rode camels into Spanish Sahara in a massive demonstration of passive resistance called the Green March. At that point, in 1976, the Spanish Government withdrew, ceding most of the land to Morocco.
For political reasons the Governments of Algeria and Libya instigated, financed and provided arms to a small group of Saharans opposed to Morocco. This group had no historical claim of any kind to substantiate its claim of sovereignty.
Algeria's motive was to pressure the Moroccan Government to settle a longstanding border dispute. Libya's motive was to destabilize the Moroccan Government, which is allied with the United States and was the site of the largest Strategic Air Command base in Africa.
Morocco has effectively won this war, whose spoils are the largest phosphate and uranium deposits in Africa. Successful exploitation of these minerals will immensely improve the quality of life for the people of Morocco. To say that Morocco is interfering in the affairs of the region is incorrect. Western Sahara is and should be part of Morocco. MICHAEL GREENWALD San Diego, March 5, 1995 The writer worked for the World Health Organization in Morocco from 1973 to 1976.

source: new york times