India fully grasps Sahara issue, youssoufi

Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi said Tuesday India now fully understands the issue of the Moroccan Sahara after its political class was given full explanations on the issue.

"The problem is now well explained and fully grasped by the Indian political class, in government and in the opposition," Youssoufi, who is currently on a four-day official visit to New Delhi, told the press.

"Our role is to explain and convince, and the Indian officials carefully listened to us," he said.

The Moroccan Sahara issue is now at the hands of the United Nations, which is trying to hold a self-determination referendum to decide the future of the former Spanish colony, retrieved by Morocco in 1975.

The Algerian-backed separatist Polisario group endeavors to shrink the voters' lists. Morocco clings to the right of all Sahrawis to take part in the voting, especially those who were driven out of the territory by the Spanish repression.