SAHARA PRESSE SERVICE

Chahid El Hafed, 11/04/2004 (SPS) The President of the Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz, had had a phone conversation, on Friday, with his Algerian counterpart, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to congratulate him for his re-election President of Algeria, emphasised an official source.

The Head of State expressed his sincere wishes of full success to Mr.Bouteflika in his new mandate and congratulated him for the renewal of Algerian people's confidence, and for the outstanding rate he got in the votes.

It should be recalled that Mr. Bouteflika was largely accredited, on Thursday, for a five years mandate, by 83.5 % of valid votes in front of five candidates of whom the second had about 8% of the votes. (SPS)

SPS
SADR/AGRICULTURE/CONFERENCE
A national conference on Saharan agriculture opens on Saturday in Dakhla

Dakhla (refugees' camps) 11/04/2004 (SPS) A national conference on Saharan agriculture is taking place from the 10th to the 11th April in the wilaya of Dakhla chaired by the Minister of development, Larabas Joumani, and with the presence of many representatives of the others wilayas of the country, Saharawi agricultural engineers and foreign experts.

«The deficiency in water, salinity of the soil, the violent winds and heat, are as many discouraging factors that Saharawis succeeded to overcome sometimes in the desert to cultivate vegetables», declared an engineer, who lead the experience of Dakhla's garden, to SPS.

The conference aims to deepen the different experiences in this field and to take profit of other nations' knowledge in an attempt to give each of the four wilayas of the refugees' camps a farmable space, which is able to ensure self-sufficiency in vegetables; it was indicated in the conference.

An ambitious hope and a challenge raised by the organisers of the conference, which Spanish and Algerian experts participated. (SPS)

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SADR/SPAIN/SUPPORT
The President of the Republic receives Spanish Parliament members

Chahid El Hafed, 11/04/2004 (SPS) The President of the Republic received, on Saturday at the presidency, three Spanish Parliament members who are visiting the country since three days, noted SPS.

Txomin Aurrekoetxea, from Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Mrs. Jesus Loza, Euskadi Socialist Party (PSOE), Mrs. Enrequita Benito from Alavesa Union (UA) and Mrs. Rosa Mari Ostogain, mayor of Beriz (Viscaya), stressed, one after the other to a journalist of SPS after their meeting with the President, on their unconditioned support to the self-determination of the Saharawi people through a free and democratic referendum, organised and supervised by UN.

To Mr. Txomin, «the rising to leadership of the PSOE in Spain should be an occasion to get Spain out of its neutrality and to get more involved in the decolonisation of Western Sahara, of which it is still accountable», considering that the settlement of the conflict and the establishment of peace «will be profitable to the peoples of the region».

On their parts, Mrs. Loza, Enriquita and Ostogain were unanimous in their support to the Saharawi people in the struggle of liberation, calling for «putting an end to the tragedy of this people who suffered a lot». (SPS)

010/090/000/TRD 111118 Apr 04 SPS