New round of talks on Western Sahara.

• Position: Javier Perez de Cuellar in North Africa

Secretary-General javier Perez de Cuellar, in the exercise of his good offices' mission for the peaceful resolution of the question of Western Sahara, visited North Africa in late March, where he had talks with the leaders of Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO).

On his arrival on 23 March at Marrakesh, Morocco, he said that he had come to the region to speed up the peace process. "The new atmosphere of reconciliation and of peaceful solutions to problems makes it all the more important to move forward towards a positive and rapid solution to the Western Sahara problem", he added.

During the North African trip, the Secretary-General met with King Hassan II of Morocco in Rabat and with Mohamed Abdelaziz, SecretaryGeneral of POLISARIO, in Tindouf, Algeria. He also had talks with President Chadli Benjedid of Algeria, whose country is an official observer to the peace process. A meeting was held at the expert level between the UN delegation and Moroccan officials.

Attending the discussions was his new Special...