Morocco ready to cooperate with Baker for solution to Sahara dispute, Minister

Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation Mohamed Benaissa on Thursday pledged Morocco's readiness to cooperate with UN secretary general's personal envoy, James Baker, to find a political settlement to the Sahara dispute, opposing Morocco to the Algerian-backed separatist movement "Polisario."

Under the latest version of the draft Peace Plan for the Sahara, drawn up by the former US Secretary of State, Sahrawis (local population) would be granted immediate self governance, followed by a referendum on independence within five years.

Benaissa recalled that Morocco had accepted the referendum as a solution to "this problem that has lasted too long," insisting however that such a consultation has become impossible to organize because of problems encountered in the process of voters identification.

He said he had handed, in person, to the UN Secretary general, piles of documents containing the names of persons who were registered as voters, while their brothers were not. This situation, he explained, has led the UN Security Council to recommend a negotiated political solution instead.