Sahara issue not well understood in Latin America
Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi on Monday deplored lack of understanding of the Moroccan Sahara issue among Latin American nations.
"The Sahara issue is not well understood by our friends in Latin America," Youssoufi told a press conference in the Argentine capital city.
Argentina is the last leg of Youssoufi's tour in Latin America. He already visited Colombia and Chile in a quest for closer cooperation with these countries.
"This is a totally artificial issue, as the territory has always been part and parcel of Morocco," Youssoufi said.
The Sahara is a former Spanish colony, retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords. But the Algeria-backed Polisario front contests Morocco's sovereignty over the territory and claims its independence.
A referendum, proposed by Morocco in the early 1980's, is bogged down in disputes over the voter lists.
The Moroccan premier insisted that the issue could have been settled in 1975, but the ill-intention of some neighbor countries prevented this settlement.
Youssoufi was hinting to Algeria, which financially and politically backs the Polisario separatists.
The premier renewed Morocco's full backing to the efforts of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to implement the settlement plan. He conceded that Morocco will not accept the exclusion of a part of the Sahrawi population from their right to participate in the vote.
