UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for Western Sahara, Alvaro de Soto, arrived in Algiers on 18 November to hold talks with senior officials on the Western Sahara issue, announced a UN spokesman. His visit to Algeria is part of ongoing negotiations with the parties and neighbouring governments involved in the dispute over the territory. Soon after arriving in the capital, de Soto met Algerian Minister Delegate for Maghreb & African Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel. Before arriving in Algeria, de Soto held consultations with Moroccan officials in Rabat and spoke to the leadership of the pro-independence Polisario Front in Rabouni, said a UN spokesman. De Soto is expected to travel to the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, for the final leg of his tour.