To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the United Kingdom's role in resolving the western Saharan conflict.

We have no direct role to play in resolving the dispute over the western Sahara. However as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council we have consistently supported the UN Secretary General in his efforts to arrange a free and fair referendum to determine the territory's future.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations Her Majesty's Government has made to the Moroccan government on the subject of Moroccan abuses of human rights in the occupied territories of the western Sahara.

The Moroccan authorities are well aware of our condemnation of human rights abuses, no matter where they occur.