by (Algerian) President Bouteflika as well," he told the press following his meeting with his Algerian counterpart.

"President Bouteflika told me that he knew France's traditional position and has not asked me to renounce to it (...) But as far as I am concerned, I do not make of it (the Sahara issue) a bone of contention between France and Algeria," French head of State went on to say.
 
Sarkozy stressed that "what matters most is that things go forward and that at a given time the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania) can be set up on the basis of understanding between Algeria and Morocco, for we cannot imagine the Maghreb without Morocco and Algeria."

Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario are disputing control of The Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was ceded to Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accord signed between Morocco, Spain and Mauritania.

In accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolution 1754, which called on the disputing parties to hold direct talks "in good faith" and "without preconditions, Morocco and the Polisario held the first round of talks in Manhasset (New York ouskirts) under the U.N. auspices. A second round is scheduled for August 10.

The UNSC is due to discuss the issue on July 11, on the basis of the report of the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on "The Status and Progress of Negotiations" over the Sahara, released last week in New York. The Personal Envoy of the Secretary General, Peter Van Walsum, is expected to brief the Council on the latest developments of the Sahara issue.