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Western Sahara, among regional issues of strategic dialogue with Spain

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Madrid, Dec 24, 2016 (SPS) - Western Sahara conflict is among the regional issues of the strategic dialogue with Spain, said Friday in Madrid Algerian Minister of Maghreb Affairs, African Union and Arab League Abdelkader Messahel.
The Minister made this statement to APS a day following the first session of Algeria-Spain Strategic Dialogue in Madrid, which he co-chaired with Spain's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ignacio Ybanez.
As regards the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), confirming that the free trade agreement between the EU does not apply to Western Sahara, Messahel underlined that the decision "shows the soundness of Algeria's unchanged position: Western Sahara issue is a question of decolonization and it is a non-self-governing territory, and thus the right to self-determination applies to its people."
In this regard, the minister said that the CJEU's decision is also in line with the United Nations' principle on decolonization.
Messahel said that Algeria hopes that the UN and its new secretary general would "take note" of the CJEU's decision.
He added that Algeria hopes that this decision would help to relaunch Western Sahara decolonization the process. (SPS)
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