The government of Mauritania will continue to remain neutral as a solution in sought over the final status of Western Sahara, a neighboring desert territory that has been fighting for autonomy from Morocco over the years, according to information reaching here.
This announcement regarding the position of the country on the Western Sahara conflict, according to the official Mauritanian News Agency, was made by Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, President of the national assembly, during a recent visit to Morocco.
"I want to say that all meetings in Morocco presented me with an opportunity to unequivocally reiterate the two points which, since time immemorial, have characterized our country's position regarding this issue," said the national assembly speaker.
The two points, said the parliament speaker, were notably "support for any solution endorsed by the United Nations and Mauritania's full readiness to work to bring the two sides involved in the conflict to the negotiating table," Ould Boulkheirwas quoted as saying in a statement issued in Nouakchott.
Further, the parliament speaker also said that he was very surprised that his visit to Morocco, which occurred a few days ago, had given rise to "various theories and speculations in section of the local press regarding his country's position on Western Sahara."
Following the visit, a section of the Mauritanian press, mostly the independent media houses, has been awash with speculation, with some newspapers and magazines going as far as to express doubts over the position of "positive neutrality of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania on the Western Sahara conflict," the Pan-African News Agency reported Monday.
On Friday, Ould Boulkheir concluded a three-day official visit to Morocco where he had led a strong delegation from the Mauritanian national assembly at the invitation of Mustapha El Mansouri, speaker of the Moroccan lower house of parliament, according to diplomatic sources.
The issue of Western Sahara, where the Polisario Front has been waging a guerilla war against Moroccan forces over autonomy.
Source:Xinhua
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