Algerian and Egyptian presidents discussed Sahara issue, Moussa says

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said the Sahara issue was among the topics debated between Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the latter's stopover in Algiers.

Moussa, who accompanied President Mubarak on the two-day visit he paid over the weekend to Morocco, told the Egyptian Middle East News Agency that President Bouteflika voiced hope that the Sahara issue will be settled shortly and expressed Algeria's will to establish sound and positive relations with Morocco.

In Algiers, President Bouteflika said Egypt, which has centuries-old relations with the Maghreb, can play a key role in rapprochement between Morocco and Algeria.

President Hosni Mubarak stopped over in Algiers en route to Morocco, where he co-chaired with King Hassan II, a two-day meeting of the Moroccan-Egyptian high joint commission.

The meeting was crowned with the conclusion of a package of accords meant to promote bilateral trade and economic exchanges.