Peking, 7/11/2006 (SPS) The Algerian President, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, affirmed on Tuesday in Pekin, that the organisation of a self-determination referendum for the Saharawi people, conforming to the Baker plan and to the international legality, remains "unavoidable".

Mr. Bouteflika reiterated the position of Algeria regarding the conflict f the Western Sahara; in a speech he gave in the University of Peking, underlining that "it is a decolonisation question" which resolution is the duty of "the international community within the framework of the UN Charter and the UN Security Council’s resolutions".

In this respect, President Bouteflika reaffirmed the support of his country to the efforts of the UN Secretary General and his Personal Envoy for the sake of reaching "a just, equitable and definitive" solution to this conflict.

He nevertheless stressed that Algeria’s "engagement towards the Saharawi people is absolutely not an obstacle to the building of the Maghreb Arab". (SPS)

020/090/700/TRD 071515 Nov 06 SPS

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