New Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos insisted that his country's position regarding the (Western) Sahara issue, is similar to that of the United Nations.
At a news conference held, in Washington Wednesday, following talks at the White House and at the US Department Of State, Moratinos said his country favors bilateral dialogue to reach a final solution to this dispute opposing Morocco to the Algerian-backed separatist movement "Polisario."
The Moroccan Sahara, known as Western Sahara, was a former Spanish colony until 1975 when Morocco retrieved it under the Madrid Accords signed with Madrid and Mauritania.
The Polisario, backed by Algeria, has since 1976 been claiming independence of this territory despite the local populations' refusal to be separated from the Kingdom.
On Thursday, the Moroccan Government ruled out any negotiation on the independence of these Southern Moroccan provinces.
Rabat officially made it clear to the UN that it will not accept any solution providing for the independence, in an answer to UN proposals to find a solution to this dispute.
Moroccan Minister of Communication and Government's spokesman, Nabil Benabdallah told reporters that the Kingdom provided "last week its answer on the evolution of our national cause" in allusion to Morocco's sovereignty over this territory.
He said Morocco aspires to a "final consensus-based political solution" to the dispute, adding that Morocco also listed "aspects that cannot be subject to any negotiation on the part of Morocco, namely the total exclusion of the option of independence, the transition period and the respect of the Moroccan State's constant foundations."
He also reiterated Morocco's resolve to continue to cooperate with the UN whose chief Kofi Annan is due to report on April 30 to the security council on the latest developments of this dispute.
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