Nomad nation fashions new identity in desert
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Your support makes all the difference.One of the world's longest- surviving nations-in-exile, the Western Sahara, has again put its menfolk on patrol in the run-up to the expiry, later this month, of a United Nations peace-keeping mandate.
In the Saharawis' 25 years of exile in neighbouring Algeria, they have forged a functioning society with 90 per cent literacy and equal rights for women. Their principal remaining aspiration is to hoist their all-white flag on 110,000 sq miles of phosphate-rich soil on the West African mainland south-east of the Canary Islands.
"With our men at the front, we had to invent social organisation," said Mariam Salek, the country's Culture Minister. "We are proud to be women, proud to be Arabs, proud to be Muslim, but we do not intend to let anyone dictate to us how we should live our lives."
The Saharawis, descendants of nomadic desert tribes, have lived in tent cities in south-west Algeria since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1976 prompted Morocco to annex their territory. At the heart of the dispute is rivalry between Algeria and Morocco for control of a potentially lucrative export market in phosphates and rumours of oil wealth. Their recognition by the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) drove Morocco out of the body.
After the annexation, the Saharawis went to war under the banner of the Polisario the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia de Hamra and Rio de Oro (both regions of the former Spanish Sahara). They fought a 15-year insurgency against American-backed Morocco, drawing allies from Algeria, Cuba and Libya. Some 10 years ago, the UN brokered a ceasefire. Attempts since then to organise a referendum have been blocked by disagreements between the Saharawis and Morocco over who should be allowed to vote.
Maarouf Budda, a soldier aged 29 who studied in Cuba for 11 years, said: "From the begin-ning, we were aware we must have many children, but we must also educate them. Otherwise our race will disappear."
The estimated 300,000 Saharawi still do not have many political allies countries that would risk condemnation from America and the European Union by recognising the Western Sahara as a nation. Only Thabo Mbeki, the President of South Africa, speaks often of the plight of the Saharawis. He refers to them as "the last colony in Africa".
There are claims that the Saharawis' achievements in education and women's rights would be lost as soon as their life in exile ended. All nomadic tribes in the Sahara afford women a prominent position in which they choose their husbands and often run their communities.
Ms Salek said: "When we get independence and a normal country, we won't let men cut back our role. Besides, we do not believe they will try."
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