AU chair calls for calm between Morocco, Western Sahara

Cyril Ramaphosa, chairman of the African Union and president of South Africa, has called on Western Sahara and Morocco to ease their growing tension arising from a dispute on the buffer zone and return to negotiations.

In a statement on Thursday, Ramaphosa urged the two parties to uphold the settlement plan, which provides for a cease-fire and the holding of a referendum for the people of Western Sahara to exercise their right to self-determination.

He also called on the United Nation's secretary-general to urgently appoint a special envoy to Western Sahara to address the underlying cause of tensions and assist with finding lasting peace in the region.

Formerly a Spanish colony, Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco, its northern neighbor in 1975, resulting in conflict between Morocco and an indigenous Sahrawi rebel group dubbed Polisario Front that had initially been created to fight off Spain.

In 1991, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire following a UN-brokered truce and there was the promise a referendum on independence. Unfortunately, no agreement has been reached to date and negotiations between Morocco's government and the Polisario Front have resulted in little progress.

Additionally, despite the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, the situation remains fragile, with the Polisario Front threatening to take up arms again. The conflict has forced most of the Saheawis to seek refuge in Algeria.

Morocco controls 80 percent of the disputed territory while the Polisario Front occupies the rest.