Solving Sahara conflict crucial for Maghreban integration, Chaves
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 3/16/2005

Solving the Sahara conflict in a manner that is "as satisfactory as possible" is crucial for the Maghreb integration process, said on Wednesday visiting President of the autonomous government of Andalusia.

Manuel Chaves, who started Tuesday an official visit to Morocco, was referring to the obstacles hampering the regional grouping of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), notably the Sahara dispute that causes strains between Morocco and Algeria. The two neighbors are at loggerheads because of Algiers' support of the Polisario separatists that claim the separation of Morocco's southern provinces, known as the Sahara.

UMA, set up in 1989 in Marrakech, musters Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

It is important to "seize the opportunity and encourage dialogue between parties in order to find a way out of the current political impasse," said Chaves at the opening of the 6th seminar of Moroccan-Spanish journalists held at the Moroccan capital.

The Spanish official, who deems the Maghreb's regional integration a primordial issue, said "recent reconciliation moves encourage for optimism."

It is important to "work in a constructive way to back the search for a final, fair and consensual solution in conformity with international law," he insisted.

The Sahara conflict, Chaves concluded, does not "solely require a technical solution. It is also necessary to reach a solution that is acceptable by all parties on the basis of a previous political accord."

Previous Stories:
  President of the Andalusia Autonomous government in Morocco for talks on cooperation   (3/14/2005)
  Spanish press: Moroccan King 'most distinguished figure in Madrid ceremony'   (3/12/2005)
  Moroccan-Spanish jointly patrol southern Spanish coasts   (3/9/2005)

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