Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony believed to have considerable offshore oil deposits and mineral resources, in 1975 NEW YORK: The UN Security Council extended the UN peacekeeping mission in disputed Western Sahara for a year on Friday, expressing concern at the breakdown of the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front and calling for a revival of UN-led negotiations. The vote was 13-0 with Russia and Tunisia abstaining. The US-drafted resolution makes no mention of US backing for Morocco’s claim to the mineral-rich territory in the waning days of the Trump administration as part of efforts to get Morocco to recognize Israel. Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony believed to have considerable offshore oil deposits and mineral resources, in 1975, sparking a conflict with the Polisario Front. The UN-brokered the 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future that has never taken place because of disagreements on who is eligible to vote. The Front ended the 29-year cease-fire with Morocco last November and resumed its armed struggle following a border confrontation with Morocco which continues today. The Moroccan military had launched an operation that month in the UN-patrolled Guerguerat border zone to clear a key road it said had been blockaded for weeks by Polisario supporters. Morocco has proposed wide-ranging autonomy for Western Sahara. But the Polisario Front insists the local population, which it estimates at 350,000 to 500,000, has the right to a referendum.