The United Arab Emirates is set to become the first Arab state to open a consulate in the disputed Morocco-controlled Western Sahara region, Rabat said on Tuesday. The consulate will be opened in Laayoune, the largest city in the Western Sahara, which has been under the control of Morocco since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1974. The Algerian-backed Polisario Front has been unsuccessfully pressing for the region’s independence, while United Nations efforts to broker a settlement between Rabat and Polisario have repeatedly failed.

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Tags : Morocco, EAU, Western Sahara, consulate,