Word: koranic
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...great human flood a half-mile abreast, the marchers soon narrowed into a column eight to ten people wide and began raggedly shuffling down the single-lane asphalt road in the direction of Aaiūn, Sahara's capital. A huge paratrooper distributed paperback copies of the Koran, which the marchers waved as they chanted, "Allah akbar [God is great]," "The Sahara is Moroccan," "Long live King Hassan...
...journey was exhausting, the accommodations were wretched and furious sandstorms periodically lashed the seemingly endless rows of tents. Yet hundreds of thousands of banner-waving, Koran-thumping volunteers last week continued to swarm into Morocco's southernmost town, Tarfaya. "So many people want to volunteer for the Saharan march that application forms are being sold on the black market," said one sheik who had traveled from the east-central province of Ksar es Souk. While awaiting orders to cross the Spanish Saharan border 21 miles to the south -the "go" signal may be given this week -bejeweled women...
Realizing that an armed invasion might well cause a war with both Spain and Algeria, Hassan had asked for 350,000 volunteers to cross the frontier, armed only with the Koran. By the end of the week, 700,000, including 70,000 women, had signed up for what Moroccan newspapers had dubbed "the Green March" (after Islam's traditional color). Doctors were still giving physical examinations to decide who was up to the arduous 15-day, 60-mile trek across a land as desolate as the moon, where temperatures at this time of year can climb as high...
Divine Protection. To take care of those who fell from sun or heat stroke, the government had also commandeered 220 ambulances and recruited 470 doctors and nurses. Premier Ahmed Osman personally sent off the first contingent of 20,000-most of whom carried copies of the Koran along with soup bowls, spoons and bottle openers-from the oasis of Ksar-es-Souk. "Go then under divine protection," he said, "helped by your unshakable faith, your true patriotism and your total devotion to the guide of your victorious march, King Hassan...
...disappointed, Morocco showed no intention of acquiescing in the ruling, and at week's end its troops were massed along a 140-mile border with the Spanish Sahara. Morocco's King Hassan II vowed to send 350,000 people, including 30,000 women-armed only with the Koran-to "liberate" the territory. Meanwhile, Spain, which still has control, warned that its troops in the Sahara, estimated at 15,000 to 30,000, would fire back if fired upon. Algeria had thousands of its own soldiers ready for action at the Tindouf oasis. Neighboring Mauritania, to whom the court...