French president hopes quick progress in maghreban integration, sahara issue

President Jacques Chirac of France voiced hope that new moves forward in Maghreban integration and the Sahara issue will be made shortly. In a message he sent to Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika, Chirac said he hopes the Sahara issue, including its humanitarians aspects, will know new developments quickly through dialogue."

The French president sent Bouteflika the message, published by APS news agency, after a three-day state visit to Algeria, the first visit of the kind by a French president to Algeria since independence in 1962. The French president had previously called for the release of 1,160 Moroccan prisoners of war held by the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists in the Tindouf Camps, southwestern Algeria.