United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres «has always been in favor of an enhanced dialogue between Morocco and Algeria», said, Wednesday in New York, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, in reaction to the announcement by King Mohammed VI of the Kingdom's readiness for direct and frank dialogue with Algeria, contained in the Sovereign's Speech to the Nation on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the Green March. «The Secretary General has always been in favor of an enhanced dialogue between Morocco and Algeria», the spokesman said at his daily press briefing, in response to a question from a journalist about the proposal by the King to Algeria to create a joint political mechanism for dialogue and consultation. Dujarric stressed that the UN Secretary-General «welcomes the support of HM the King for the efforts of the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Horst Kohler, to resume talks». He added that Guterres also praised the positive responses to Kohler's invitation to the initial round table, to be held in Geneva on 5-6 December. «The Secretary-General expresses the hope that this first round table will be the beginning of a process that will lead to a solution to this long-standing conflict», Dujarric concluded.
