Morocco accuses Algeria of blocking W.Sahara talks

AFP

RABAT - Morocco has accused Algeria and the Polisario Front of blocking negotiations on the future of the Western Sahara, in a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, released Thursday in Rabat.
"Algeria and the Polisario are pursuing their obstruction strategy (...) against the negotiation process", Morocco's Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri said.

Morocco's Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri
Morocco's Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri
Morocco also accused Algeria of a "propaganda campaign around the question of human rights" based on isolated cases, alluding to the hunger strike last year by Western Sahara independence activist Aminatou Haidar.
UN Special Envoy Christopher Ross is trying to organise a fifth "informal meeting" between Morocco and the Polisario, with Algerian and Mauritanian observers.
Morocco's annexation of the Western Sahara in 1975 sparked a war with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front movement.
Morocco has pledged to grant the territory widespread autonomy, but rules out independence. The Polisario Front wants a referendum on self-determination, with independence as one of the options.
According to Rabat, the autonomy plan for the Western Sahara is supported by France, the United States and Spain.
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