The World - News from Aug. 12, 1988

U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar embarked on a new peace initiative by proposing to help settle a dispute between Morocco and a rebel group fighting for the independence of Western Sahara. Perez de Cuellar made the offer to Moroccan Foreign Minister Abdellatif Filali and Bechir Mustafa, a representative of the rebel Polisario Front, during a meeting in his office. He would not reveal the initiative’s contents, saying only that it proposes a cease-fire and a referendum in the formerly Spanish territory, which is claimed by both Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario.