Morocco, Algeria should discuss sahara issue, political leader
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 11/23/1999

Morocco and Algeria should sit around the same table to discuss the Sahara issue, said secretary general of the Istiqlal Party, Abbes El-Fassi.

The secretary general of the Moroccan nationalist party-- which is participating in the center-left coalition government-- told Egypt's Al Ahram daily that the Sahara issue cannot be settled other than in the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.

He said this issue is behind the stalemate in the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA). The UMA, that was set up in Marrakesh in 1989 and that musters Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, is paralyzed mainly due to strained relations between Morocco and Algeria over Algiers' direct involvement in the Sahara issue.

Abbes El Fassi who described Algeria's stand in this issue as "incomprehensible" said, "We cannot accept that a neighboring country with whom we are sharing a common history, shelters and arms the so-called 'Polisario' and harms Morocco's territorial integrity."

Touching on the latest anti-Moroccan campaigns by the Algerian press, the IP secretary general said the Moroccan people have not understood the origin of the "tension" that broke out after President Bouteflika's visit to Morocco.

He added that Morocco has not responded to "the baseless allegations of the Algerian media which claim that Morocco wants to destabilize Algeria through drugs and other things."

"All we want is that Algeria allows the Sahrawis settled in Tindouf (stronghold of the Polisario in southwestern Algeria) to return to their motherland," El-Fassi said, renewing Morocco's stand which rejects any referendum that would not guarantee the right of all the persons of Sahara origin to participate in the vote.

A referendum is scheduled to be held in the Sahara provinces, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975. The U.N sponsored vote will determine whether the provinces remain part of Morocco or set up on their own, as claimed by the Polisario.

Previous Stories:
  Algerian media comments on Morocco's ex- minister of interior   (11/11/1999)
  Sheikh Abdallah Bin Zayed in Algiers address problem with Morocco   (11/10/1999)
  Morocco says it does not seek escalation with Algeria   (11/9/1999)

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