The United Nations' new envoy for Western Sahara held talks Sunday with the head of the disputed territory's independence movement, the Polisario Front, a representative of the group said.
Mohammed Salem Ould Salek told AFP that Ross had "deep and frank discussions" with the Front's leader, Mohammed Abdelaziz, in the southwest Algerian town of Tindouf, in which he called on all parties to find "a political resolution" to the dispute.
Ross told the Algerian news agency APS that he had come to the region to listen to the Polisario's position on the UN-backed negotiations.
He described his mission as seeking to find "a mutually acceptable solution, a solution which takes into account the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination."
The UN envoy arrived Saturday in Tindouf, the Polisario said, where some 165,000 Sahrawi refugees have been displaced for more than 30 years.
The independence movement has disputed Morocco's claim to the territory since Rabat annexed it after former colonial power Spain withdrew in the mid-1970s.
Ross held talks Friday in Rabat with Moroccan King Mohammed VI in a bid to sound out the possibility of new talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which has Algerian support.
Following his Tindouf visit, Ross was scheduled to travel to Algiers, Madrid and Paris, UN officials had said.
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
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