UN General Assembly
1979

158. In this context I should like to recall certain facts relating to this matter. It is common knowledge that Morocco, because of its strategic location, was a coveted objective for many colonial Powers, and this finally led to the fragmentation of its territorial integrity and the partitioning of its lands into several zones of influence controlled by more than one colonial Power. Hence, the elimination of colonialism from all of the territory of Morocco was accomplished in several stages and at different periods. 159. Morocco tried hard to recover its remaining territories, which had been colonized by Spain and, when it realized that the latter country had resorted to a policy of prevarication and procrastination, it was obliged—in view of its desire to follow peaceful procedures—to refer the matter to the United Nations. In resolution 2072 (XX) adopted in 1965 the General Assembly did, in fact, request Spain to "enter into negotiations on the problems relating to sovereignty" in the Moroccan territories of Ifni and Spanish Sahara.