UN chief's visit was positive, says Morocco

The visit that UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, paid to Morocco this week took place in a "positive atmosphere," said here Thursday spokesman of the Moroccan government, Khalid Alioua.

In a press briefing following the weekly meeting of the government, the spokesman said Annan's visit in the Moroccan southern provinces has enabled him find out personally about the actual situation in the Moroccan sahara and listen to the heads of local tribes and the local elected officials.

Alioua said Annan's visit was an opportunity for Morocco to renew its attachment to the UN settlement plan and to the right of all Sahrawis to participate in the referendum that the United Nations intends to hold to determine whether this former Spanish colony, retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accord, would stay within Morocco or set up on its own as claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario movement.

The UN secretary general returned Thursday to New York, interrupting a trip in the region that was expected to lead him in Algeria, Tunisia and the Tindouf camps, stronghold of the Polisario in southwestern Algeria.