Morocco's Premier: Sahara is Morocco and UN has understood it

Moroccan Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, told the Mauritanian media that the Sahara is Moroccan territory and that the United Nations Organization has understood this.

"The U.N. has understood it: the Sahara is and will remain Moroccan" and Morocco, convinced of its rights, has done everything to bring the UN initiatives from the present deadlock," Youssoufi told a group of Mauritanian papers.

While conceding the existence of divergences between Algeria and Morocco on the issue, Youssoufi deplored Algiers' "irrational" stance and insisted that Maghreban integration remains for Morocco a strategic priority.

Of Moroccan-Mauritanian relations, he said the two states are building a new type of relations and hailed the creation a few days ago of a joint business council.