Moroccan-Russian talks on Sahara issue in rabat

Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohammed Benaissa, conferred Wednesday in Rabat with representative of the Russian foreign minister, Dolgov Konstantin, who is currently on a visit to Morocco.

The meeting that was attended by Moroccan secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, Taieb fassi Fihri, focused on the efforts being made by the United Nations on the eve of the adoption by the Security Council of a resolution on the Sahara issue.

The two Moroccan officials briefed their Russian interlocutor on Morocco's stand on the matter and renewed the Kingdom's willingness to find a political solution to the issue on the basis of the framework agreement brokered by UN secretary General's personal envoy for the Sahara, James Baker.

The framework agreement gives the Sahara-- provinces in southern Morocco that were formerly under Spanish rule and that were retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords-- a large autonomy under Moroccan kingty.

The Moroccan officials also renewed the utter rejection by Morocco and by all the components of the Moroccan people of the surprising proposal to partition the Moroccan Sahara territory that was made few months ago by Algeria.