Colin Murphy: Western Sahara, the forgotten conflict

Forty years ago this month, one of the great peaceful, popular decolonisation movements took place. Spain abandoned its colony in north-west Africa, Spanish Sahara, and 350,000 Moroccans, carrying the green flag of Islam, marched south into the desert to claim it.

The Green March is part of the foundation myth of modern Morocco. It was recalled in an anniversary speech the week before last by the Moroccan king, Mohammed VI, as “the epic ...