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.

"I know about the Moroccan project and it's no good," said jobless Sahrawi Mohammed, 27, as he pondered a mint tea in his sparsely furnished living room in a poor district of Laayoune.

"Everyone here wants this dispute to end. We cannot bear to see the international community just sit and watch."

A constant wind whips across the rocky plains of Western Sahara, a land larger than Britain with around 260,000 inhabitants where temperatures reach over 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade.

Tens of thousands of Sahrawis have grown up in refugee camps inside the Algerian border and the frustration of a people accustomed to roaming freely is channeled into broad support for Polisario, even though critics question the movement's democratic credentials.

Morocco accuses Polisario leadership of dictatorial rule and human rights violations in Tindouf.

In turn, Polisario accuses Morocco of brutally suppressing pro-independence demonstrations and treating the Sahrawis living under Moroccan rule as foreigners in their own land.

DESERT MARCH