Western Sahara independence chief Mohammed Abdelaziz took his movement through a war and diplomatic struggle, but his death leaves a new leadership facing a tough diplomatic test with a younger generation likely to be demanding change. Abdelaziz, who died Tuesday aged 68, will be buried Saturday after more than three decades as leader of the Sahrawi people's Polisario Front movement and president of its self-declared Sahrawi Republic.

Polisario will hold an extraordinary session to choose a new leader after a 40-day period of mourning.

The desert territory, which is rich in phosphate, has been at a diplomatic impasse for more than 20 years since a U.N.-sponsored cease-fire came into force between the Polisario and Morocco on the understanding a referendum would be held on independence.

Some say the younger generation of Sahrawis, who have spent all their lives in camps, may look to Abdelaziz's successor to push more aggressively for reclaiming territory.

Abdelaziz's death came as the obscure dispute took a delicate turn after Morocco, angered by a comment by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, expelled part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the territory earlier this year.

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