Morocco renews backing to U.N. efforts to settle Sahara issue

Morocco has renewed backing to the United Nations efforts to settle the Sahara issue through a self-determination referendum.

Such a position was reiterated by Moroccan foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa, in an address before the 13th ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), held over the weekend in Cartagena, Colombia.

Benaissa also stressed Morocco's attachment to the inalienable right of all Sahara-born citizens to participate in the projected self-determination referendum.

The vote, proposed by Morocco, seeks to determine whether the Sahara --a former Spanish colony, retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accords-- sets up on its own or remains part of Morocco.

The vote is bogging down in obstacles erected by the Algeria-backed Polisario, which seeks to shrink the voters' rolls through refusing the registration of thousands of genuine Sahrawis.

James Baker, Personal Envoy of the U.N. Secretary-General for the Sahara, is currently touring the region in a bid to unlock the logjam.