Moroccan interior minister ends working visit to Spain

Moroccan Interior Minister Driss Basri wound up on Thursday a 24-hour working visit to Spain, during which he reviewed with Spanish officials ways to enhance bilateral cooperation.

During his stay in Madrid, Basri conferred with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Foreign Minister Abel Matutes and Interior Minister Jaime Mayor Oreja.

Aznar told Map's bureau in Madrid that the "health state" of Moroccan-Spanish relations is "excellent." He said his talks with Basri touched on all aspects of bilateral cooperation "in an atmosphere marked by trust and cordiality."

Morocco and Spain have "excellent relations that need to be consolidated and preserved," Aznar said.

For his part, Basri told the press after meeting Abel Matutes that Morocco's and Spain's interests converge and that Madrid and Rabat share the same will to lower obstacles whenever they appear.

Asked about his country's position regarding the Sahara issue, Matutes renewed Madrid's "impartiality" and its readiness to help the United Nations in its endeavor to settle the issue through the holding of the scheduled referendum.

The vote is designed to determine whether the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975, sets up on its own as desired by the Algerian-backed Polisario, or incorporates into Morocco.