Morocco accuses W.Sahara activists of killing police Morocco on Monday defended a raid on a West Sahara protest camp by its security forces as being “deliberately peaceful” and accused Sahrawi activists of “brutal practices” including cutting the throat of a Moroccan policeman. Activists among the Sahrawis — as the desert territory's inhabitants are known — have insisted their protest was peaceful and was focused on social demands like jobs and housing, not on political issues. Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony in northwest Africa that was annexed by Morocco in 1975, sparking a rebellion by the Polisario Front. The United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991, but a political settlement to Africa's longest-running territorial dispute has eluded negotiators. Iran, Algeria want to boost ties Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi has expressed optimism about further expanding ties between Iran and Algeria, especially in the energy sector. Speaking in a telephone conversation with Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, the Iranian official said that the Islamic Republic and Algeria could further boost bilateral relations, particularly in the field of oil and natural gas, IRNA reported Monday. Rahimi also described ties between the two nations as brotherly and reiterated Tehran's readiness for further improvement of relations in all fields. Tunisia and Libya review cooperation The program of cooperation adopted during the quarterly meeting of the joint Tunisian-Libyan high executive committee held last month in Tunis were at the center of talks on Friday between the Tunisian Prime Minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, and the secretary of the Libyan Committee for Planning and Finance, Abdelhafidh Zlitni. In a declaration at the close of the meeting, Zlitni, who is on a working visit to Tunisia, stressed the will expressed by the two neighboring countries to speed up the implementation of the agreed programs in accordance with instructions given by president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. London deflects critics in Libyan case London rejects allegations that a British man held in detention in Libya didn't get the full attention of diplomatic authorities, a government office said. British business mogul Henry Djaba returned to London in October from an alleged forced disappearance in Libya. He filed a lawsuit in October against the Libyan government, claiming his captors tried to force him to confess to being a spy by threatening his life. Sudan seeks to bolster cooperation with China in mining: minister Visiting Sudanese Mining Minister Abdel-Bagi Gailani said here Monday that Sudan is seeking to strengthen cooperation with China in the mining sector. Sudan is a vast country with rich mineral resources, said the minister. However, the country's abundant mineral resources are yet to be explored and utilized due to various reasons such as technical and financial constraints, he told Xinhua. Sudan welcomes and encourages Chinese companies to do business and to invest in his country, hoping that the two countries could diversify mutually beneficial cooperation, said Gailani. BM
