western sahara political unrest
 

with increased political unrest expected in laayoune this month it is advisable to avoid traveling through the town. there is a new coast road from tarfiya to laayoune port bypassing the town,saving time,5 police checkpoints and 2 radar traps.the road has been opened two years and can be seen on google earth if it is not on your maps yet

Thx. Shame I'm heading that way in a few weeks, hoped to see Laayoune.

Hi all,

The UN peacekeeping mandate is up for renewal this month, so some unrest might be expected.
The UN can monitor what they want, there's no way that Morocco is moving an inch towards some sort of autonomy of the WS. They have invested too much.

UN: Western Sahara needs rights monitors - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Cheers from Benin,

Gee

p.s. If you bypass Laayoune you don't miss much imho!

Hi,

Stayed in Laayoune in January for a few days. Stayed at
Hotel Al Massira

Avenue De La Meque, Laayoune, Laayoune, Morocco 70000

A sanctuary after driving south along the coast road.

There is not a lot of choice of decent hotels in town and I recommend this one as being modern, clean and with half decent food. This is one of the favorite hotels of the UN peacekeepers.
I only passed one checkpoint coming into town and one leaving town heading south, plus one near the airport.

Enjoy the trip and take about 30 fiches with you, you'll need them on the coast road and a few other places.
Cheers,

Bob.

When is this "unrest" supposed to happen? Is it expected to be localized around Laayoune or throughout the Western Sahara?

I assume this is in relation to this: UN: Western Sahara needs rights monitors - Africa - Al Jazeera English

We'll be heading down in the next few weeks/month and I'd rather not have to deal with a bunch of demonstrators if things are expected to get nasty (like the Arab spring in other countries). If it is a few folks carrying placards about the Polisario and is relatively peaceful then it shouldn't be a big issue.

The Western Sahara is not exactly a new issue though I realize it is not a minor issue or those involved either.

Please excuse my ignorance !!!

Bobn refers to taking "30 fiches" with. As they will be needed on the coast road and other places.

I have no idea what this means.

Horizons do stress that no question is a silly one !

Maybe this is the first.

Thanks

Save me typing much, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Morocco Overland ~ Documents

The "fiche" is basically a sheet of paper with all the passport and vehicle information on it. It will save you from filling out forms at police checkpoints throughout Western Sahara and Mauritania.

There are certain things that need to be there so do refer to the link above.