European court annuls EU trade and fishing deals with Morocco

Widely expected decision hailed as victory for Western Saharan independence movement

A European court has struck down the EU's trade and fishing deals with Morocco because they were agreed without the consent of the people of Western Sahara.

The vast territory on Africa's Atlantic coast was annexed by Morocco in 1975 after the withdrawal of Spain, the colonial power, in a move largely unrecognised internationally and opposed by the Polisario Front, which fought a 16-year guerrilla war against the kingdom.