Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

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Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Image:Coat of arms of Western Sahara.svg This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Constitution President Mohamed Abdelaziz Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Oumar National Council Political parties Polisario Front Elections Foreign relations Free Zone

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The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a government in exile, meaning it does not effectively control its claimed territory, the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. The Polisario front, the military wing that controls the SADR, currently claims to administer the area that it calls the Free Zone, the eastern strip of Western Sahara. It conducts diplomatic relations with a number of other states from its headquarters at refugee camps at Tindouf in Algeria.

[edit] Recognition

The SADR is recognized by 45 states (not including 22 states that have canceled their earlier recognitions and 13 that have frozen their relations). For a list of these governments, see below. Several states that do no recognize Sahrawi republic however recognize the Polisario movement as a legitimate representative of the population of the Western Sahara, but not its government-in-exile as a state.

On the other hand, Moroccan sovereignty over the territory is explicitly supported by the Arab League[1],[2]and by 25 states. For a list of these governments, see Foreign relations of Morocco.

India was the only major power to have ever recognized SADR when it allowed the Sahrawi Republic to open a consulate in New Delhi in 1985. However, India withdrew its recognition in 2000.

As with any fluid political situation, diplomatic recognitions of either party's rights are subject to frequent and sometimes unannounced change.

[edit] Historical and Current Table of States recognizing the SADR

The following is a list of governments of the world that have formally recognized Western Sahara as a sovereign nation, with the exiled Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its legitimate government.

After recognizing an independent Western Sahara, some states have since retracted their recognitions. Others have chosen a milder option, to "freeze" recognition pending the outcome of the referendum on self-determination or for other reasons.

This list is based on several sources, and it may be incomplete. Currently, it contains 82 countries, and of these

• 45 recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
• 12 of these 45 are home to Sahrawi embassies.
• 13 have "frozen" relations.
• 22 have cancelled relations.

• See also tables at this page, this, this, this, this, and that.

State	Date of recognition	Notes
Madagascar	February 28, 1976	Froze recognition June 4, 2005
Burundi	March 1, 1976	Froze recognition May 5, 2006 33
Algeria	March 6, 1976	Embassy.
Angola	March 11, 1976	Embassy.
Benin	March 11, 1976	Canceled March 21, 1997
Mozambique	March 13, 1976	Embassy.
Guinea-Bissau	March 15, 1976	Canceled April 2, 1997; re-opened embassy September 26, 2000.
North Korea	March 16, 1976
Togo	March 17, 1976	Canceled June 1997
Rwanda	April 1, 1976
South Yemen (PDRY and PRSY)	February 2, 1977	It is unknown whether diplomatic recognition was ever extended by the government of the unified Republic of Yemen.
Seychelles	October 25, 1977
Republic of Congo	June 3, 1978	Canceled September 13, 1996
São Tomé and Príncipe	June 22, 1978	Canceled October 23, 1996
Panama	June 23, 1978	Embassy.
Equatorial Guinea	November 3, 1978	Canceled May 1980
Tanzania	November 9, 1978	Embassy established June 2005.[3]
Ethiopia	February 24, 1979	Embassy.[4]
Vietnam	March 2, 1979
Cambodia	April 10, 1979
Laos	May 9, 1979
Afghanistan	May 23, 1979	Canceled July 12, 2002
Cape Verde	July 4, 1979	Withdrew recognition on 27 July 2007 [5]
Grenada	August 20, 1979
Ghana	August 24, 1979	Frozen May 2001
Guyana	September 1, 1979
Dominica	September 1, 1979	Frozen.
St. Lucia	September 1, 1979	Canceled March 1989
Jamaica	September 4, 1979
Uganda	September 6, 1979
Nicaragua	September 6, 1979	Frozen July 21, 2000
Mexico	September 8, 1979[6]	Embassy.[7]
Lesotho	October 9, 1979[8][9]
Zambia	October 12, 1979
Cuba	January 20, 1980	Embassy.[10]
Iran	February 27, 1980[11][12]
Sierra Leone	March 27, 1980	Frozen c. 2002-2003
Syria	April 15, 1980
Libya	April 15, 1980[13][14]
Swaziland	April 28, 1980	Canceled June 1997
Botswana	May 14, 1980
Zimbabwe	July 3, 1980[15]
Chad	July 4, 1980	Canceled May 9, 1997 (Apparently re-started and then cancelled again March 18, 2006 [16]).
Mali	July 4, 1980
Costa Rica	October 30, 1980	Frozen April 2000
Vanuatu	November 27, 1980	Canceled November 2000
Papua New Guinea	August 12, 1981
Tuvalu	August 12, 1981	Canceled September 15, 2000
Kiribati	August 12, 1981	Canceled September 15, 2000
Nauru	August 12, 1981	Canceled September 15, 2000
Solomon Islands	August 12, 1981	Canceled January 1989
Mauritius	July 1, 1982
Venezuela	August 3, 1982	Embassy.
Suriname	August 11, 1982
Bolivia	December 14, 1982
Ecuador	November 14, 1983	Canceled June 19, 2004; reestablished February 8, 2006.[17][18]
Mauritania	February 27, 1984[19]
Burkina Faso	March 4, 1984	Canceled June 5, 1996
Peru	August 16, 1984	Suspended relations, October 1996
Nigeria	November 12, 1984	Embassy.[20][21][22]
Yugoslavia	November 28, 1984[23]	Canceled by Serbia and Montenegro, October 28, 2004.
Colombia	February 27, 1985	Frozen December 2000.
Liberia	July 31, 1985	Canceled September 1997
India	October 1, 1985[24]	Canceled June 26, 2000
Guatemala	April 10, 1986	Frozen April 1998. In 2002, denied ever recognizing SADR [25].
Dominican Republic	June 24, 1986	Frozen on May 23, 2002
Trinidad and Tobago	November 1, 1986
Belize	November 18, 1986[26]
St. Kitts and Nevis	February 25, 1987
Antigua and Barbuda	February 27, 1987
Albania	December 29, 1987[27]	Canceled November 9, 2004
Barbados	February 27, 1988
El Salvador	July 31, 1989	Canceled April 1997
Honduras	November 8, 1989	Frozen January 2000
Namibia	May 31, 1990[1]
Malawi	November 16, 1994	Canceled June 2001
Paraguay	February 9, 2000	Frozen 25 June 2000
St Vincent and the Grenadines	February 14, 2002[28]
East Timor	May 20, 2002[29]	First country to establish relations with East Timor.
South Africa	September 15, 2004	Embassy.[30][31]
Kenya	June 25, 2005[32]	Embassy.[33]
Uruguay	December 28, 2005[34][35]

[edit] See also

• Legal status of Western Sahara

v • d • e Foreign relations of Africa
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