Madrid, April 19, 2015 (SPS) - Minister for Maghreb and
African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel underlined Algeria’s position
towards the issue of Western Sahara, emphasizing the support to the
Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, in a two-day visit paid to
Spain and ended on Friday.At the end of his stay in Madrid, in which he held several meetings, Messahel pointed out the regional issues broached with the Spanish officials; particularly that relating to Western Sahara.
“Algeria’s position, he said, is based on three fundamental points : the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination which can be reached only through a referendum, the protection of the wealth of Western Sahara’s territory which is a non-self governing territory and the United Nations is very clear, through its charter, on the protection of the wealth of this kind of territories,” said Messahel.
The third aspect of Algeria’s position concerns the necessity “to protect and respect human rights in the occupied territories.”
“There have been interesting talks with the Spanish side on the issue of Western Sahara,” affirmed Messahel, adding that these talks occurred on the eve of the examination by the UN Security Council of the Sahrawi issue and the report of UN secretary general as well as the adoption of a resolution on this conflict,” said Messahel.
During his visit, Messahel met with Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ignacio Ybanez, Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuelles Garcia Margallo and members of the royal institute Think Tank El Cano. (SPS)
