2007 is a year in which more than a couple of notable anniversaries fall: the UK remembered its abolition of slavery and, more recently, the 25-year-old Falklands War; stock market jitters were just a little too reminiscent of 1992's Black Wednesday; and the ghost of Elvis turned 30. A lesser known anniversary occurs on the 6th of November. On that date in 1975, as Franco ceded power and Spain released its colonial grip, over 350,000 Moroccan civilians moved southwards into the territory then known as Spanish West Africa. They claimed it for their king, an assertion backed by the military and complicated by the involvement of neighbouring Mauritania and the Algerian government, who supported a resistance movement with weaponry and public support. Today, 32 years later, 'the Green March', has become a milestone in Moroccan patriotic rhetoric. Despite several UN-sponsored attempts at a settlement. military conflict and displacement of refugees continues in what is now known as the Western Sahara.
Human rights groups have expressed concern over the conduct of Moroccan security forces. Refugee camps sprawl across the territory itself, in Southern Morocco, as well as in neighbouring countries. The territory, which constitutes over a third of Morocco's total landmass, appears only in sketchy detail on maps. A closed military zone, outsiders are unwelcome, and reporting of events is extremely difficult.
But that may soon change. All sides involved are beginning to realise the value of exploiting the mineral wealth that may reside beneath the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Western Sahara. This is your chance to ask the experts how this situation came about, the wider implications, and what comes next: