Maroc-Hebdo: Spanish official calls for giving chance to new UN sahara settlement plan

President of the autonomous government of Andalusia (Southern Spain), Manuel Chaves, told a Moroccan weekly the latest Sahara settlement plan, crafted by the UN secretary general's personal envoy for the Sahara, has to be given a chance.

James Baker's plan should be given a chance to contribute to settling the issue, Chaves, who visited Morocco this week, said in an interview published this Friday by weekly "Maroc-Hebdo."

Morocco and Spain (the former occupier of the Sahara) should exchange views in an atmosphere of faithfulness, clarity and sincerity, he said explaining that what is important at this stage is that the two countries should be making efforts to know each other's stances and discover each other.

He said the idea that Andalusians have about Morocco is mostly made of cliches that are 20 years or 25 years old and are very far from the present situation.

Of bilateral cooperation, he said the Andalusia region has always had friendship relations with Morocco for geographic, historical and proximity reasons.

During Chaves' visit to Morocco (March 18-19), Morocco and Andalusia signed a declaration of intent and a 2003-2006 trans-border development program, worth 48 million Euro, jointly financed by the two parties.