Morocco's long-running dispute with Algeria over Western Sahara is no closer to being resolved, yet on the ground, one side appears to be going forward as if the issue is already settled.
Western Sahara, a huge, thinly populated territory on Africa's Atlantic coast, has been the focus of a decades-long territorial dispute.
Morocco claims authority over the region, but Algeria supports the Polisario Front, which continues to seek independence.
A UN-brokered truce in 1991 promised a referendum on self-determination, but more than three decades later, the vote has yet to take place.
Instead, the territory remains divided, with Morocco controlling the majority of it and the Polisario Front maintaining a short eastern strip.
