Nov
20th, 2010 - Nothing more titillating then the prospect of
spending thirty hours on a bus from Casablanca, Morocco to Dakhla in
the Western Sahara. I suppose we could have split up the journey into
legs and taken in a bit more of Morocco but the clock was ticking on
our Mauritanian visa so we decided to put our heads down and soldier
on. It wasn't a pleasure cruise but it could have been a hell of a
lot worse. The bus was new and reasonably comfortable so in many
respects we were fortunate. Still, thirty hours on a bus will deplete
your lifeforce considerably. My chi was fading in and out.
Our
marathon bus journey took us through the western edge of southern
Morocco and into the Western
Sahara.
WS is a disputed territory and has been since its decolonization by
Spain followed by the Moroccan invasion in 1974-75. Both the government of Morocco and the Polisario
Front lay
claim to the territory, although the majority of it is controlled by
Morocco. The Polisario has actually gained recognition of its Sahrawi
Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)
from 81 different countries to include its closest ally, Algeria.
Morocco finds this all vexing, very vexing indeed.
This
vexation turned violent in
the city of Laayoune just
a few days after we passed through. From what I've read Moroccan
security forces invaded a tent city outside of Laayoune that was
established months ago by the Saharawis in
order to protest sub par social conditions in Western Sahara. Riots
broke out and it all went to hell in a hand basket from there. The
truth has been hard to come by as Morocco has attempted to put a
tight lid on the details. Or
have they? For an update check out
“Waiting
for the Arab Spring in Western Sahara.”
