The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 12th Summit of the International Organization of Francophonie, which wrapped up Sunday in Quebec city, the capital of Canada's French-speaking Quebec province, after three-day talks on issues including global financial crisis, climate change and the state of French language.
In a statement to the press following his meeting with the UN secretary General, El Fassi underlined that negotiations must be based on Morocco's autonomy project in order to reach a solution to the Sahara issue.
Besides the issue of Morocco’s territorial integrity, the kingdom has "other priorities", namely upgrading social and economic development, pursuing political reforms and promoting good governance, the Moroccan official went on.
The Prime Minister said he had reminded Ki-moon that the Sahara "had always been Moroccan" as evidenced by facts and historical data, and that the North African Kingdom has "a clear vision" of the solution to this issue, namely an autonomous status under Moroccan sovereignty.
In response to the wishes of "friendly countries", the Kingdom has made efforts to reach a consensus-based solution that is accepted by all the parties, he said.
El Fassi, who represented Morocco at the Francophonie Summit, also had side meetings with Canada's Governor General, Michaelle Jean, and Deputy speaker of Quebec National Assembly, Fatima Houda-Pépin.
Talks mainly tackled the reforms initiated in Morocco in all sectors and means to bolster bilateral economic relations, ways to attract investments to Morocco, and life conditions of the Moroccan community living in Canada.
Following his meeting with the Governor General, El Fassi said it has been agreed to send a Canadian business mission to Morocco to assess the advantages and opportunities offered by Moroccan economy.
In turn, Houda-Pépin underlined Quebec's interest in consolidating relationship and cooperation with Morocco, particularly at the parliamentary level.
Some 30 leaders of French-speaking nations attended the Francophonie summit in Quebec City, the cradle of French civilization in the Americas.
In their final declaration, dubbed "the Quebec Declaration", issued at the closing ceremony Sunday afternoon, world leaders called for an international summit on the current global financial turmoil.
"No country is immune from the turmoil that undermines the global credit markets and the turbulence that rocked our markets requires urgent intervention and coordination," they said.
In the Final declaration, the IOF also pledged to actively participate in improving the international financial system to make it more consistent, and support a reform aimed at improving transparency, integrity and banking strength of the global economic governance.
Source: MAP
News and events on Western Sahara issue/ Corcas