Negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario about the Sahara were launched Monday afternoon (4 p.m. GMT) at Manhasset, in New York's suburbs and under and aegis of the United Nations.

 
 The talks are launched in accordance with the 1754 resolution of the U.N. Security Council rendered on April 30, and which calls on the parties to the Sahara issue to "enter into negotiations without preconditions in good faith," with a view to "achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solutions."

    Besides Morocco and Polisario, the negotiations are attended by delegations from Morocco's neighbors, Algeria and Mauritania in the presence of the U.N. facilitator, Van Walsum.

    The Moroccan delegation includes Interior Minister, Chakib Benmoussa, Deputy Foreign Minister, Taieb Fassi Fihri, Delegate Minister in the Interior, Fouad Ali Al Himma, chairman of the Royal Council for Sahara Issues (CORCAS), Khalihenna Ould Errachid, head of the Moroccan Intelligence, Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, Permanent Representative of Morocco at the U.N. El Mostafa Sahel. The delegation is accompanied by CORCAS Secretary General, Maouelainin Maouelainin Ben Khelihanna and Senior Governor of the southern city of Dakhla, Mohamed Salah Tamek as technical advisors.