UN chief to appoint 'very soon' special representative to Sahara

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said, in Paris Tuesday, he would "very soon" appoint a Special Representative for the Sahara, in another attempt to find a solution to the dispute opposing Morocco to the Algeria-backed separatist movement "Polisario."

The UN chief made this statement at the end of a lunch at the Elysee with French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He said he would "continue to work very closely with all concerned parties," adding that he discussed this issue with the French leader.

"We are in touch with all parties," Annan went on without identifying the parties. Morocco has always considered Algeria an involved party in the dispute due to her political, financial, logistic and military support to the Polisario which has been seeking since 1976 to separate Morocco's Southern provinces, known as the Sahara, from the rest of the country. The former Spanish colony was retrieved by the kingdom in 1975 under the Madrid Accords signed with Spain and Mauritania.

Madrid and Rabat have recently urged for the appointment of a new representative of the UN chief for the Sahara, in replacement of Peruvian Alvaro de Soto and before him former US Secretary of State James Baker. A communique, released at the end of talks, last week in Madrid, between the two countries foreign ministers, Mohamed Benaissa and Miguel Angel Moratinos, noted the timeliness for the Un Secretary General to reactivate the political mediation between the parties as well as the peace process.

The Spanish chief diplomat had then reiterated his government's commitment to work for seeking a just and lasting solution to the conflict "in line with international legality and accepted by all." He also sent a letter to Kofi Annan urging him to appoint such a representative, "part of Spanish diplomatic moves."