Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara Third ... - Scarecrow Press

xxviii • CHRONOLOGY
Istiqlal Party enunciates “Greater Morocco” doctrine. June: Army of
Liberation begins its insurgency. October 10: Morocco stakes its claim
to Western Sahara at the United Nations (UN).
1957 February 15: Army of Liberation stages its first attack in Mauritania;
Spain allows French troops to stage reprisal raids into its colony.
June: Smara and other interior points are abandoned by Spain. July 1:
The future Mauritanian president, Mokhtar Ould Daddah, puts forward
his own claim to Western Sahara. December 30: The French cabinet
approves a joint Franco-Spanish military campaign in northwest
Africa, Operation Ouragon.
1958 January 10: AOE is dissolved; Western Sahara is made a
province of Spain. February 10–24: Operation Ouragon is launched;
Army of Liberation is defeated. February 25: King Mohammed V of
Morocco formally lays claim to Western Sahara. April 1: Morocco and
Spain sign the Agreement of Cintra, by which the Tekna Zone (including
Tarfaya) is ceded to Rabat. April 10: Morocco’s army, the
Forces Armées Royales (FAR), attempts to occupy the Tekna Zone but
is barred by Army of Liberation units.
1959–63 Severe droughts wipe out an estimated 60 percent of livestock
herds, encouraging the process of sedentation.
1963 May: First local elections held for El-Ayoun and Villa Cisneros;
Khatri Ould Said Ould Joumani becomes president of the Cabildo
Provincial. July 6: Franco and King Hassan II hold a summit at Barajas
airport near Madrid. July 17: Three Saharawis are seated in the
Spanish Cortes for the first time.
1964 October: The UN adopts its first resolution on Western Sahara.
1965 December 16: The UN General Assembly calls on Spain to decolonize
Ifni and Western Sahara.
1966 April: Spain informs the UN that it accepts the principle of
decolonization but urges a delay, citing Western Sahara’s underdevelopment
and nomadic population. June: Morocco and Mauritania support
Western Saharan self-determination. October–November: The
Organization of African Unity (OAU) adopts its first resolution on
Western Sahara, calling for its “freedom and independence.” Decem