Several thousand people demonstrated late Tuesday in Madrid demanding a referendum on the Western Sahara during a visit of Moroccan King Mohammed VI, protesting Morocco's "intransigence" and the "false neutrality" of the Spanish government.
The demonstrators marched through the capital, with protestors throwing red and green paint bombs at the Moroccan embassy as they passed.
The Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, was annexed by in 1975 by Morocco. Rabat has been fighting the separatist Polisario Front, which enjoys the backing of Algeria.
In 1988, the two sides accepted a UN peace plan which called for a referendum to be held, offering West Saharans a choice between continued inclusion in Morocco or independence.
But the referendum has been pushed back from year to year since 1991, due to disagreements over who has the right to vote – MADRID (AFP)
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