FACTBOX: Some facts about Western Sahara dispute

(Reuters) - Talks on the fate of Western Sahara resume next week and independence movement Polisario has warned its foe Morocco that failure to find common ground may rekindle war in a region struggling to contain al Qaeda-linked violence.

Here are some key facts on Western Sahara:

* WHAT IS THE DISPUTE?

-- Morocco seized Western Sahara after Spain gave up administering the territory in 1975 and Mauritania abandoned its claim to part of it. A low-intensity guerrilla war with the independence movement, the Polisario Front, was waged until the United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991. The U.N.-mediated ceasefire came with the promise of a referendum but Morocco has refused to allow a vote.

-- The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), declared by Polisario in 1976, is now recognized by many governments and is a full member of the African Union.

* WHO ARE THE PLAYERS IN THE DISPUTE?

MOROCCO:

-- Morocco believes it has the diplomatic clout to settle Africa's oldest territorial dispute on its terms. Morocco claims centuries-old rights over the territory rich in phosphates, fisheries and possibly offshore oil.

-- Having annexed the territory, Rabat now says autonomy is the most it will offer. It insists its autonomy plan is steeped in democratic values and investor-friendly liberal economics.