ALGERIA-WSAHARA-POLISARIO-POLITICS

A flag of the Western Sahara, known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, flutters at a checkpoint manned by members of the Sahrawi security forces outside the refugee camp of Dakhla, about 170 kms southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf, on January 14, 2023. The Western Sahara conflict dates back to 1975, when colonial occupier Spain withdrew from Western Sahara, sparking a 15-year war between the Polisario and Morocco for control of the territory. That ended in a 1991 ceasefire deal with the North African kingdom in control of 80 percent of the resource-rich desert territory and the Polisario clinging to hopes of a UN-supervised referendum on independence provided for in the deal. (Photo by Ryad KRAMDI / AFP) (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images)