SECRETARY-GENERAL, ON VISIT TO ALGERIA, TRAVELS TO BASE OF UNITED NATIONS WESTERN SAHARA MISSION, HOLDS REFUGEE CAMP MEETING
Press Release
SG/T/2159
SECRETARY-GENERAL, ON VISIT TO ALGERIA, TRAVELS TO BASE OF UNITED NATIONS WESTERN SAHARA MISSION, HOLDS REFUGEE CAMP MEETING
19981209 Four Days of Talks with Government Leaders on Range of Issues(Received from a spokesman travelling with the Secretary-General; delayed in transmission.)
Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Algiers from Paris in the afternoon of Sunday, 29 November. He was greeted by Algerian Foreign Minister, Ahmed Attaf.
On Monday (30 November) the Secretary-General flew to Tindouf in western Algeria where the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO) is headquartered and Western Saharan refugees are camped. The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), maintains a base there. The Secretary-General visited the MINURSO base and addressed the staff. He then took a helicopter to the refugee camp, Smara, where he was greeted by Mohamed Abdelaziz, the Secretary-General of POLISARIO. They met one-on-one for almost an hour.
Secretary-General Annan then met with sheikhs, or leaders of families and clans of the refugee camps. They expressed their frustration with the delays in the peace process, but pledged to continue to cooperate with it. After lunch hosted by Secretary-General Abdelaziz, Mr. Annan met with a POLISARIO delegation. At that meeting, Mr. Abdelaziz presented formal acceptance of a compromise package proposed by the United Nations to accelerate implementation of the peace plan. The Secretary-General then gave a press conference, after which he returned to Algiers via Tindouf.
The Secretary-General began his working visit to Algeria on Tuesday, 1 December, with a one-on-one meeting for half an hour with Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf. The two then met for an additional hour with their delegations. The Foreign Minister thanked the Secretary-General for his "dynamic" approach to the problem of Western Sahara, and said that Algeria supports the package recently proposed by the United Nations to accelerate the peace process.
The Secretary-General described his Legal Counsel's efforts to clarify issues raised by Libya in the case of the Lockerbie bombing suspects. He also detailed his efforts in Paris to broker a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic
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of the Congo. Prospects for peace in the Great Lakes region of Africa were discussed, and the Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister also reviewed the status of Middle East peace efforts in the wake of the Wye Plantation accords and talked about the sanctions regime against Iraq.
Foreign Minister Attaf described recent efforts by the countries of the Mediterranean region to coordinate their fight against terrorism, and reviewed the state of bilateral relations between Algeria and Morocco.
The Secretary-General then met with Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia for a review of the situation in Western Sahara; peace prospects for the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea; prospective reform of the international system and the case of the extradition from Libya of the Lockerbie suspects.
At the National Assembly, the Secretary-General met with several parliamentarians, including Assembly President Abdelkader Bensalah. Parliamentarians, he said, should be the bridge of the United Nations to the people since politics was no longer just local, but also global.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary-General was joined by the Foreign Minister for the inauguration of United Nations House, a facility donated by the Government to house all United Nations agencies, funds and programmes working in Algeria.
The Secretary-General also met with agency heads there, saying that while institutional jealousy was normal, by working together they would have greater impact on the lives of the people. That, he added, was the basis on which the United Nations would be judged. He then addressed the assembled staff.
That evening, he attended a dinner in his honour hosted by Foreign Minister Attaf.
On Wednesday, 2 December, the Secretary-General visited the Algerian Senate, where he met with its President, Bachir Boumaza, and other members. He then met with the President of Algeria, Liamine Zeroual, for about an hour. They had an in-depth discussion on Western Sahara and also reviewed diplomatic efforts in Paris the previous weekend to end the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the sanctions regime against Iraq, the Middle East peace process and the situations in Angola and the Sudan. The President hosted a luncheon in honour of the Secretary-General.
Before leaving Algiers, the Secretary-General gave a press conference. He travelled to Tunisia in the late afternoon.
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