Mubarak calls for flexibility, negotiation to settle Moroccan sahara issue

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt yesterday called for "flexibility" and "negotiation" to settle the Moroccan Sahara issue.

"This (Sahara) issue should be handled in pondered manner (É) the parties should show flexibility and should sit around a negotiating table" to settle it, said Mubarak in an interview with the Moroccan second TV channel 2M.

He underlined that the United Nations already drew the path to follow to reach a solution to this issue.

He recalled that he undertook back in 1976 several shuttle trips between Morocco and Algeria in a bid to settle the problem.

President Mubarak lauded the "excellent" relations binding his country and Morocco and stressed the two nations' shared will to energize them.

"Our bilateral relations have been very close ever since the reign of the late King Hassan II, with whom I had solid personal ties and agreed to set up the High Joint Commission," he said.

The Moroccan-Egyptian joint commission was scheduled to convene a meeting last year under the chairmanship of the two heads of state, but the meeting was put off due to the precarious situation in the Middle East, said Mubarak, adding that another meeting will be held at a date to be decided, in order to follow up the implementation of projects of common interests.

Mubarak hailed tangible rise in exchanges between Morocco and Egypt, as evidenced by the increase of flights frequency, which denotes the existence of fruitful relations between the two states' businessmen.