U.S. wants to help resolve the conflict in Western SaharaThe secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, said on Sunday his country's willingness to cooperate in resolving the conflict in Western Sahara, former Spanish colony disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front independence backed by Algiers.
"It is time to end this conflict," Rice said in Rabat during a joint press conference with his Moroccan counterpart, Taieb Fas-Fihri. "There will be new negotiations, we will support. There are good ideas on the table and there are way forward," he said.
On the eve of the visit by Rice, spokesman for the Moroccan government, Khalid Naciri, had expressed the wish that Washington "will help bring this matter to the impasse."
"We do not have to start from scratch," said the head of U.S. diplomacy, "is what we seek a solution acceptable to all."
The conflict of Western Sahara, situated south of Morocco, affect relations between Rabat and Algiers as well as the integration process of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), whose activities are paralysed for several years.
The Moroccan Foreign Minister affirmed that his government "hopes that relations between Morocco and Algeria, brotherly countries, normalization" and that "the Maghreb Union is reality." Rice also thanked "his decision to bring together the heads of diplomacy of countries in the region, apart from the next UN general assembly."
Rice, meanwhile, stressed wanting to "find the means to help countries in the region to take a more united front to the challenges facing them."
Morocco and the Polisario Front held four rounds of negotiations in Manhasset, near New York, without achieving any progress and should be reconvened at a date not specified.
Morocco proposes granting broad autonomy to the territory under its sovereignty while the Polisario Front calls for organizing a referendum on self-determination on their independence.
During his visit to Rabat, as did the previous day in Algiers, Rice also talked about the fight against terrorism with his interlocutors. On Saturday met with the prime minister, Abbas El Fasi, the Interior Minister, Chakib Benmusa, and the head of military intelligence, Yasin Mansuri. "It is important that Rabat and Algiers exchange information on the challenges facing both countries," he said.
The fight against terrorism is a priority for the Moroccan government, which regularly announces the dismantling of terrorist cells that were preparing attacks. In late August, police claimed to have arrested 15 alleged terrorists, members of a network of links with Al Qaeda, called Fath Al Andalus (Conquest of Andalusia).
In Algiers, Rice spoke on Saturday with the Algerian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on his "great interest in the fight against terrorism and cooperation" in that field, said to journalists. Algeria is white many years of deadly attacks Salafita Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), now the branch of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb Islam.
Rice, who also visited Libya on Friday, left Rabat on Sunday to return to Washington.
"It is time to end this conflict," Rice said in Rabat during a joint press conference with his Moroccan counterpart, Taieb Fas-Fihri. "There will be new negotiations, we will support. There are good ideas on the table and there are way forward," he said.
On the eve of the visit by Rice, spokesman for the Moroccan government, Khalid Naciri, had expressed the wish that Washington "will help bring this matter to the impasse."
"We do not have to start from scratch," said the head of U.S. diplomacy, "is what we seek a solution acceptable to all."
The conflict of Western Sahara, situated south of Morocco, affect relations between Rabat and Algiers as well as the integration process of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), whose activities are paralysed for several years.
The Moroccan Foreign Minister affirmed that his government "hopes that relations between Morocco and Algeria, brotherly countries, normalization" and that "the Maghreb Union is reality." Rice also thanked "his decision to bring together the heads of diplomacy of countries in the region, apart from the next UN general assembly."
Rice, meanwhile, stressed wanting to "find the means to help countries in the region to take a more united front to the challenges facing them."
Morocco and the Polisario Front held four rounds of negotiations in Manhasset, near New York, without achieving any progress and should be reconvened at a date not specified.
Morocco proposes granting broad autonomy to the territory under its sovereignty while the Polisario Front calls for organizing a referendum on self-determination on their independence.
During his visit to Rabat, as did the previous day in Algiers, Rice also talked about the fight against terrorism with his interlocutors. On Saturday met with the prime minister, Abbas El Fasi, the Interior Minister, Chakib Benmusa, and the head of military intelligence, Yasin Mansuri. "It is important that Rabat and Algiers exchange information on the challenges facing both countries," he said.
The fight against terrorism is a priority for the Moroccan government, which regularly announces the dismantling of terrorist cells that were preparing attacks. In late August, police claimed to have arrested 15 alleged terrorists, members of a network of links with Al Qaeda, called Fath Al Andalus (Conquest of Andalusia).
In Algiers, Rice spoke on Saturday with the Algerian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on his "great interest in the fight against terrorism and cooperation" in that field, said to journalists. Algeria is white many years of deadly attacks Salafita Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), now the branch of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb Islam.
Rice, who also visited Libya on Friday, left Rabat on Sunday to return to Washington.
