Abelaziz Bouteflika

Algerian President Abelaziz Bouteflika has attended ceremonies marking the 26th anniversary of the self-styled Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic in the disputed Western Sahara.

Mr. Bouteflika visited the western Algerian city of Tindouf Wednesday, the unofficial headquarters of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front fighting Morocco for independence in Western Sahara.

Polisario launched its guerrilla war for independence when Morocco took control of phosphate rich Western Sahara in 1976.

The two sides reached a cease-fire agreement in 1991 calling for a U.N.-monitored referendum. But in a report earlier this month, U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan described the future of the stalled peace process as bleak. He outlined options aimed at solving the dispute, including partition which was immediately rejected by Morocco. Rabat accuses Algeria of pushing the partition issue.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

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