US official denies visit to US State Department by president of self-proclaimed Sahrawi republic

A US official source denied Thursday that Mohamed Abdelaziz, president of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi republic, would be received at the US State Department.

The US official source told MAP bureau in Washington the meeting is not scheduled.

Abdelaziz is also secretary-general of the Algeria-backed Polisario movement, which is claiming the independence of the Sahara, a former Spanish colony that Morocco retrieved in 1975 under tripartite agreements with Spain and Mauritania.

"Jeune Afrique" weekly, published in Paris, had reported that Abdelaziz, who is on a private visit in the US capital, will "hold informal talks with several members of the congress and with some top officials at the state department."