Frederick Vreeland, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East and South Asia affairs and former US ambassador to Morocco, has an op-ed in the March 3 New York Times on the usually obscure crisis in Western Sahara, optimistically entitled "Will Freedom Bloom in the Desert?" Its nice to see the "newspaper of record" finally paying some note to the long struggle in Africa's last colony, but the paucity of coverage makes it all the more frustrating that this lead op-ed is a piece of dishonest propaganda for Morocco's pseudo-solution of an "autonomy" plan, which Vreeland writes "it behooves all members of the United Nations Security Council to support."

Morocco has announced it will present an autonomy plan for Western Sahara to the United Nations next month in hopes of ending the three-decade conflict. The plan would give the occupied territory a parliament, a chief of state, cabinet and judiciary, said Khalihenna Ould Errachid, King Mohamed VI's chief adviser on the territory. "We can stay at an impasse, or seek a middle way that leaves neither winners nor losers —and that's autonomy," he said. A Western Sahara parliament could create laws as long as they do not violate Morocco's national law, while regional courts would fall under the Moroccan legal system, he said, adding that Morocco would retain control of foreign relations, defense, finance and border control. Western Sahara would also keep Morocco's flag, currency and stamps. King Mohamed VI would continue to be recognized as the highest religious authority in the land. But the Polisario Front resistance movement, which has observed a ceasefire since 1991, insists on a referendum on independence. The UN has officially endorsed this solution, but it has languished for years, while Morocco's occupation is becoming normalized. Last year, the European Union signed a fishing deal with Morocco allowing European fleets acess to Western Sahara's waters. (AP, March 2 via Africast)

On Feb. 27, the Polisario Front's special mine action team destroyed 3,321 anti-personnel mines in Tifariti, Western Sahara. This was the Polisario Front’s second stockpile destruction since it signed the "Deed of Commitment for Adherence to a Total Ban on Antipersonnel Mines" in November 2005. High-level Polisario officials, including Secretary General Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (as recognized by the African Union and many States), attended the ceremony. Geneva Call, the Saharawi Campaign to Ban Landmines (SCBL) and Landmine Action UK inspected the destruction site before and after the operation. International delegates and media representatives also witnessed the event, among them Major General Kurt Mosgaard, Force Commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

An Algerian army captain was killed Feb. 28 and another officer seriously injured in an attack near the village of Ain Rich, outside the city of Djelfa. Officials said the Mohadjrine Falange, a wing of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) was responsible. The army is carrying out a sweep of the area. In simultaenous coordinated night raids Feb. 27, several police checkpoints in the Kabylia region and near the coastal city of Boumerdes were attacked by gunmen with AK-47s. No casualties were reported. (AP, Feb. 28; DPA, March 1)

Some long-belated progress in the struggle of another stateless ethnicity left off the map in the colonial and post-colonial carve-ups. From Reuters, Feb. 21:

ALGIERS - The Malian government and Tuareg rebels agreed on Tuesday to start implementing an Algerian-brokered peace deal for the northeast desert region of Kidal, the Algerian official news agency APS said.

The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC by its French initials) has been very busy lately. With little note in the world media, Tunisia last month apparently squelched a plot to attack the US and British embassies. It ended in a series of gun battles that killed a dozen militants and left two Tunisian security officers dead. It was kept very quiet—until the New York Times splashed it all over the front page Feb. 20, in somewhat sensationalist terms ("North Africa Feared as Staging Ground for Terror" by Craig S. Smith). Here are the relevant passages, emphasis added:

We're glad the hijacking was thwarted, but we don't quite get the politics behind this incident. The hijacker was supposedly seeking asylum from Mauritania (which remains a pretty oppressive place despite the democratic transition supposedly underway there), but Mauritania said the hijacker was a Moroccan from the Western Sahara. From 1975 to 1980, Mauritania occupied the southern half of Western Sahara; since then, Morocco has occupied the entire country. Are we ever going to find out who this guy really is and what he wanted? From AP, Feb. 16:

From Afrol News, Dec. 11:

An Algiers bomb attack against oil workers that killed an Algerian driver and wounded nine people, including several Western citizens, has raised fears that Algeria's trend towards peace and stability may end. As the US Embassy in Algeria today advises Americans to review their personal security, foreign oil companies already have decided to invest into protection against terrorist attacks.