Photo: Martine Perret/UNA UN team in Western Sahara (file photo)Morocco has accused the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah of arming the Western Sahara independence movement. The Moroccan government has severed diplomatic ties with Iran for supporting the Polisario Front, a movement hoping to carve out a state in the contested Western Sahara, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said on Tuesday. 'Baseless'But Hezbollah has rejected Morocco's claims that it provided arms to the Western Sahara independence movement, saying Rabat was using "baseless arguments" to serve another agenda. From colony to conflictIn 1975, when Spanish colonial forces withdrew from Western Sahara, Morocco deployed forces to lay claim to the phosphate-rich territory. Rabat considers Western Sahara an integral part of its territory, while Sahrawi refugees in neighboring Algeria consider it their homeland.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 02, 2018 04:18 UTC