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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The two sides fighting for control of Western Sahara agreed Monday to hold talks for the first time in 30 years on the sparsely populated territory in North Africa, which the U.S. says is critical to preventing the spread of terrorism.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for Morocco and the Polisario Front independence group to enter into negotiations over the phosphate-rich region which Morocco annexed in 1975, sparking a 16-year war with Polisario guerrillas.
Both Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed to discuss the future of the region, although Ahmed Boukhari, the Polisario representative to the U.N., said talks were doomed if the Moroccan government does not agree to a referendum on independence.
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