Africa's oldest territorial dispute rumbles on

By Tom Pfeiffer

LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara, April 16 - (Reuters) - In one of the most inhospitable places on earth, the Sahrawi people wait to hear their fate after more than three decades in limbo.

The inhabitants of Western Sahara saw their lives turned upside down in 1975 when Morocco took control of the desert territory in the most isolated corner of northwest Africa after colonial power Spain withdrew.

A low-level war ensued, in which tens of thousands of Sahrawis were displaced to camps on a barren plateau across the Algerian border. Since 1991 United Nations troops have kept watch over an uneasy peace.

Now Morocco is proposing to break the impasse with a plan for limited autonomy in the territory. Independence movement Polisario, backed by Morocco's regional arch-rival Algeria, rejected the plan before even seeing the details.

The European Union has given the Moroccan offer a guarded welcome in the hope it will kick-start negotiations to resolve Africa's oldest territorial dispute, which has poisoned the regional political climate and stymied economic development.

Polisario, in turn, has put forward its own proposals for a settlement, saying it is ready to negotiate with Morocco on holding a referendum that would offer a choice between independence, autonomy or integration into Morocco.

But the protagonists seem as far apart as ever. Morocco says any talks should be limited to how to implement autonomy.

Native Sahrawis say they have got used to waiting, so refused to get their hopes up when told the U.N. Security Council was due to debate the Moroccan plan this week.