France: Work continues toward EU - OAU troika summit

Work on a summit between the European Union and Organization of African Unity troikas continues in Brussels, the deputy spokesperson of the French Foreign Ministry said yesterday, despite indications from the foreign minister of Portugal, whose country recently assumed the rotating EU presidency, that the summit would not take place as scheduled during its tenure.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Antonio Gutteres asserted "the impossibility of holding this summit during the Portuguese presidency because of the disagreement between Algeria and Morocco on Western Sahara."

Algeria is the current president of the OAU, while Morocco, one of the organization's founders, is presently not a member of the OAU due to the admission of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Republic, under the separatist Polisario. A much-delayed referendum sponsored by the United Nations is to determine whether the territory remains under Moroccan sovereignty or forms its own state. The Polisario is headquartered in Algeria.

A statement released on Monday by the OAU's presidency referred to "an alleged Algerian-Moroccan disagreement that exists only in the mind of those who want to maintain obstacles."

The statement also expressed Algeria's responsibility as the leader of the OAU to work for African interests and said, "Algeria, which is pleased with the progress achieved, remains convinced that the talks which will be carried on would enable the two sides to make the preparatory process progress in understanding and the mutual respect of the interests of the two sides."

The French spokesperson said, "We've confirmed that the main difficulty had to do with Morocco's participation and the question of the Sahara," adding, "it doesn't necessarily mean that the summit has been definitively canceled."