The Polisario Front announced Saturday it is sending a top-level delegation to meet Morocco's King Hassan II. It would be the first such encounter since Polisario guerrillas went to war with Morocco 13 years ago. No date for the meeting or names of delegates were given. The statement issued here by the Polisario Front said the initiative follows a declaration by the Moroccan monarch to the French press that he was ready to meet Polisario officials. The group called Hassan's statement ``a constructive position taken in response to repeated calls by the Polisario for dialogue.'' The talks would be the first direct contacts between Morocco and the Polisario or its political structure, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, since the guerrilla group began fighting Morocco for independence for the Western Sahara, annexed by Morocco in 1975. The Polisario statement said the group would cooperate fully with the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations, which have been seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict. Both Morocco and the Polisario have agreed in principle to a referendum on the future of the Western Sahara. However, the statement reiterated Polisario's stance that Moroccan troops and administration in the disputed territory remain an obstacle to the process and should be removed. Polisario declared the Western Sahara a republic in February 1976. It has since been recognized by 45 countries, 27 of them Organization of African Unity members. Morocco quit the group in 1980 when the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic became a member.
