The Polisario Front has denied reports of difficulties in its relations with neighbouring Mauritania, which backs its claim to sovereignty over Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.

The Polisario co-ordinator at the United Nations, Hamed Hadad, said that relations remained excellent.

He dismissed as a minor matter the expulsion of the Front's representative in Nouakchott, Hamoty Ould Rabani, a few days ago, and rejected suggestions that Mr Rabani had accused Mauritania of losing its neutrality, saying that Polisario would not interfere in Mauritania's affairs. He said that Mr Rabani was now in the refugee camps, but Polisario still had an office in Mauritania.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service