Word: mauritania
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...Paris, the Soviets got the impression that they could ride roughshod over the West. The French feel that Washington does not fully appreciate their efforts in seeking to contain Moscow-inspired expansionism in Africa, a role that has earned them the sobriquet "the West's Cubans." In Chad, Mauritania, Zaire and, last month in Tunisia, the French moved quickly to give military support to governments that were threatened by externally sponsored subversion...
...scheme and flown him and 500 French troops into the country to engineer the takeover. "Some countries call upon Cubans," declared Dacko disingenuously. "Why shouldn't we call upon French troops, since they are our friends?" French officials, mindful of criticism about previous interventions in Chad, Zaire and Mauritania, at first denied all, then admitted "helping out," and finally delivered a confession boasting that it was the only coup lately in which not a "single drop of blood had been shed...
Earlier this month Morocco's smaller neighbor to the south, Mauritania (pop. 1.5 million), abruptly made a separate peace with the Polisario and gave up its own claims to Tiris el Gharbia, the lower reaches of the Western Sahara. To forestall a Polisario takeover there, Hassan promptly occupied the area with 2,500 legionnaires and proclaimed it Morocco's 40th province. Though it was cheered by flag-waving children, that annexation sorely raised the level of tension across the Maghreb. Algeria immediately accused Hassan of being manipulated by "colonialists and imperialists." The Polisario vowed to "intensify military operations...
...jobs for a population that has grown from 12 million to 18 million since he took over. In foreign affairs, Boumedienne lost some prestige in the Arab world by backing and providing bases for the Polisario rebels, who seek to wrest the former Spanish Sahara from neighboring Morocco and Mauritania. His successor must decide whether to continue that fight...
...point that even interest payments on its $6 billion debt are a concern. Too many of the new industries require only a small labor force, providing little help for unemployed young Algerians. Agriculture is inefficient. Boumedienne also involved the country in a fractious feud with Morocco and Mauritania over the future of the former Spanish Sahara...