Western Sahara
U.S and Moroccan special forces take part in drill as part of the African Lion military exercise, in Tafraout base, near Agadir, Morocco, Monday, June 14, 2021. With more than 7,000 participants from nine nations and NATO, African Lion is U.S. Africa Command's largest exercise. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Major U.S.-led war games wind up in northwestern Africa

By Mosa'ab Elshamy Jun. 18, 2021 10:41 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb.26, 2021 file photo, Brahim Ghali, head of the Sahrawi Democratic Arab Republic and the Polisario Front, poses in the refugees camp of Tindouf, southern Algeria. Brahim Ghali was released from a hospital in northern Spain following more than six weeks of treatment after contracting COVID-19, according to a brief statement sent to the Associated Press by the self-declared Sahrawi Democratic Arab Republic. Ghali has long fought to break the Western Sahara away from Moroccan rule. (AP Photo/Fateh Guidoum, File)
Western Sahara independence chief leaves Spain for Algeria

Jun. 02, 2021 03:16 AM EDT

FILE - In this file image made from video on Feb. 27, 2021, Brahim Ghali, leader of the pro-independence Polisario Front speaks to a crowd in Tindouf, Algeria. Ghali, the leader of an Algeria-backed movement fighting for the independence of Western Sahara, was admitted to a hospital in northern Spain last month. His presence under a disguised identity didn’t go unnoticed to the government in Morocco, the country that annexed the northwestern African territory nearly half a century ago. (AP Photo, file)
An ailing Sahrawi leader shakes Spain and Morocco's alliance

By Aritz Parra May. 20, 2021 12:11 PM EDT

A Spanish civil guard wait for migrants to arrive at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, near the border of Morocco and Spain, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Spanish officials are acknowledging for the first time that the unprecedented migrant crisis has been triggered by an angry Rabat at Madrid's decision to provide medical treatment to the militant boss of the Polisario Front. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Uncertainty greets weary migrants in Spain's African enclave

By Renata Brito, Bernat Armangué, Houda Benalla And Joseph Wilson May. 19, 2021 09:54 AM EDT

Spanish Army soldiers clash with migrants near the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Ceuta, a Spanish city of 85,000 in northern Africa, faces a humanitarian crisis after thousands of Moroccans took advantage of relaxed border control in their country to swim or paddle in inflatable boats into European soil. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Spain, Morocco square off after 8,000 migrants arrive by sea

By Renata Brito And Aritz Parra May. 18, 2021 11:46 AM EDT

Morocco scolds Spain over virus help for independence leader

Apr. 25, 2021 10:09 AM EDT
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Ministry summoned the Spanish ambassador Sunday to convey the government’s “regret” over Spain’s decision to...

In this image made from video, Brahim Ghali, leader of the pro-independence Polisario Front speaks to a crowd in Tindouf, Algeria, Feb. 27, 2021. The leader of the Polisario Front that leads the struggle for the self-declared Western Sahara republic has been brought to Spain to receive medical treatment, it was announced Thursday, April 22. Brahim Ghali, who is 73, leads the Algeria-backed pro-independence group representing the local Sahrawi population that has fought Moroccan forces for control of the territory in western Africa. Ghali was taken to Spain “for strictly humanitarian reasons," the foreign ministry said. (AP Photo)
Sahara's Polisario Front chief gets COVID treatment in Spain

By Aritz Parra Apr. 22, 2021 05:15 PM EDT

Sub-Saharan African migrants hang out on a street corner in Dakhla, Morocco-administered Western Sahara, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. The peninsula city of Dakhla boasts a thriving fishing port, and kitesurfing enthusiasts flock to its waters. But in recent months, its beaches have become a hot spot of the moment for smuggling networks eyeing the Canaries, 500 kilometers (300 miles) north. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Boats emerge from Sahara sand to transport migrants to Spain

By Mosa'ab Elshamy Jan. 20, 2021 02:31 AM EST

27 dead after migrant boat capsizes off West African coast

By Carley Petesch Aug. 07, 2020 07:48 AM EDT
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 27 people died when a boat carrying migrants capsized off the West African coast between Mauritania and Western Sahara, United...