Madrid - "Alquds" dot com - (AFP) - The Spanish Foreign Minister confirmed on Monday that he "does not want to fuel sterile differences" with Algeria, after the Algerian president condemned the shift of the Spanish position in favor of the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.

"I will not fuel sterile disputes, but Spain has made a sovereign decision within the framework of international law and there is nothing else that can be added," Jose Manuel Paris said on Onda Cero radio.

Albaris was asked about the statements of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who described Saturday the shift in Spain's position on the issue of Western Sahara as "morally and historically unacceptable."

Tebboune said that Algeria "has good relations with Spain," but the recent stance of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on the Sahrawi issue "changed everything."

He added, "We will not interfere in Spain's internal affairs, but Algeria, as a country observing the Western Sahara file, as well as the United Nations, considers that Spain is the power managing the region as long as a solution is not reached" to this conflict.

And Paris announced on Monday that "among all these statements, what I reserve is the full guarantee to supply Spain with Algerian gas and respect for international contracts."

About a quarter of the gas that Spain imported came from Algeria in the first quarter of the year.

On March 18, Madrid announced its support for Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, considering it now "the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving the conflict."

Algeria denounced Madrid's "transformation" and recalled its ambassador to Spain the next day.

There are several differences between the two countries, most notably over the Western Sahara, the vast desert region of which Rabat controls the bulk of which the separatist Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, demands its independence.