Bulgaria says all Sahrawis should participate in referendum

The visiting speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Yordan Sokolov, said his country supports the Moroccan stance that all Sahrawis should be given a chance to take part in the UN-projected referendum in the Sahara.

"We wish that the referendum to be held in the Sahara by the United Nations be fair and give a chance to all Sahrawis to participate," he told speaker of the Chamber of Representatives, Abdelouahed Radi.

The Bulgarian official who was received on Thursday by King Mohammed VI, carried on his activities in Rabat with talks with Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, other Cabinet members and the speaker of the chamber of advisors, the upper chamber of the parliament.

A project to set up a Moroccan-Bulgarian free trade area and cooperation in tourism were reviewed at separate meetings Sokolov held with the prime minister and with Tourism Minister Hassan Sebbar.

Sokolov and his accompanying eleven-member parliamentary delegation, visiting Morocco this Feb.1-5, made a trip to Agadir (southwestern Morocco) where they conferred with city officials over consolidation of friendship and cooperation ties between Morocco and Bulgaria.

Morocco and Bulgaria signed in December an agricultural cooperation agreement during Bulgarian trade and tourism minister's visit to Morocco.