French MP group will visit southern Moroccan provinces

A French MP delegation will visit shortly the Moroccan southern provinces to learn about the achievements accomplished by Morocco in the social, economic, medical and educational sectors.

At a luncheon hosted by the Moroccan ambassador to France in honor of the French-Moroccan Friendship group and 1st deputy Speaker of the Moroccan house of Representatives, Abdelaziz Alaoui Hafidi, several MPs representing major French political movements voiced their intention to tour as soon as possible the southern Moroccan provinces and hailed Morocco's political stability, economic performance and efforts to consolidate the state of law.

For his part, the Moroccan ambassador traced the evolution of the Sahara issue, renewing Morocco's attachment to the UN settlement plan and to the rights of all sahrawi citizens to participate in the projected UN referendum scheduled for next December.

The vote, proposed by Morocco in the 1980's, will determine whether the Sahara -- a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under tripartite accords concluded with Spain and Mauritania -- sets up on its own, as claimed by the Polisario, or be incorporated into Morocco.