부산대학교 도서관

Moroccans are quietly confident that the hopes of the people of Western Sahara of gaining their own state have finally been dashed. On April 30, 2002, the UN Security Council had been due to vote on the issue of independence for Western Sahara, a desert territory annexed by Morocco in 1975. Prior to the vote, the U.S. had circulated a draft resolution proposing the the UN give its blessing to the annexation, and offering the hapless Saharawis the pickings of self rule. The UN actually postponed taking a decision on the issue for a further three months, but Morocco is confident: Support for its position on the Western Sahara is one of the few issues on which the U.S. and France actually agree. Ironically for a desert dispute, the battle for Western Sahara is now being conducted at sea by the petroleum companies prospecting for oil off the territory's Atlantic coastline.