Western Sahara standoff fuels tensions, diplomatic scramble
TIFARITI- At a rocky outpost in Western Sahara, a new generation of soldiers who have never known war are mobilising as tensions resurface in one of Africa's oldest disputes after a quarter century of uneasy peace.
Young Sahrawi troops man new desert posts for the Polisario Front, which for more than 40 years has sought independence for the vast desert region - first in a guerrilla war against Morocco and then politically since a ceasefire deal in 1991.
Now a standoff with Morocco, which controls the majority of Western Sahara, is renewing pressure for a diplomatic solution to ensure footsoldiers like Sidi Ahmed Brahim don't return to fighting as the last generation of commanders once did.
