Meeting on Sahara opens in Berlin

A new meeting of the parties involved in the Sahara issue opened in Berin Thursday under the aegis of James Baker, personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Sahara.

Morocco is represented by a delegation led by Mohamed Benaissa, foreign affairs and cooperation minister and Ahmed El Midaoui, interior minister.

The meeting, held at the headquarters of the German foreign affairs department, follows two rounds previously held in London.

Algeria and Mauritania, attending the sessions as observers, are represented in the Berlin meeting respectively by justice minister, Ahmed Ouyahia, and former prime minister, Sidi Mohamed Ould Aboubakr.

The meeting, to wind up Friday, is held in total discretion, the German authorities having accepted Baker's recommendations of silence on the subject. Germany is only providing logistic support to the meeting, diplomatic sources in Berlin said.

The United Nations is trying to settle the Sahara issue through the holding of a self-determination referendum. The vote is designed to determine whether the Sahara - a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975-sets up on its own as claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario, or remains part of the homeland, Morocco.

The vote was repeatedly delayed due to the Polisario's stalling tactics. Fearing a Moroccan victory, the Polisario separatists try to shrink voters lists through refusing the identification of thousands of genuine Sahrawis.