Algerian president receives UN secretary general's special representative for Sahara

Algerian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, received on Wednesday in Algiers, the UN secretary general's special representative for the Sahara, William Lacy Swing.

Swing who was appointed to the position last November also met Algerian foreign minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem and justice minister, Ahmed Ouyahia.

A statement of the Algerian foreign department said Swing's visit is part of a tour in the region.

The meeting came few days after UN Secretary general said, in an interim report submitted last Friday to the security council, he counts on Morocco, the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania "to continue their cooperation with his special envoy (James Baker) in the efforts he is making to reach a rapid, lasting and concerted settlement" to the issue. Annan who described as "encouraging" the recent liberation of Moroccan prisoners of war and other detainees, said the continued detention of 1,300 others poses a "grave humanitarian problem." He renewed his call for the release of all prisoners without delay.

Annan also said he is worried over the fate of those sequestered in Tindouf (Polisario camps, located in southwestern Algeria) and invited the international community to contribute to meet the humanitarian needs of this population until they are allowed to return voluntarily and lastingly to their territory.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Security council held a meeting behind-closed-doors to examine Annan's interim-report on the situation in the Sahara.

The council chairman, Jagdish Koonjul, told reporters the Council members had "a useful exchange of views," after Hadi Annabi, a top official at the UN peace-keeping department, made a presentation on the interim-report.