1 MAY 1959, Page 23

SAHARA OIL

SIR,—With reference to the Sahara oil, as an Algerian Of French birth allow me to add the following com- ment : The Sahara desert is in Africa, NOT in France and by the time the full possibilities of exploiting it have been investigated and developed, there is more than a likelihood that the Sahara will no This longer be part of France's overseas territory. ;is has been clearly stated by the President Ferhat Abbas :

The provisional Government of the Algerian Republic solemnly reaffirms the inalienable right of the Algerian people to the Sahara Hinterland which by nature is part of Algeria. . . . and goes on to warn those concerned that any

obligations entered into by France relative to the oil deposits of the Sahara are considered void by the P.rovisional Government.—Yours faithfully,

FRAKOIS CAVIGL1OLI

Longueville House, Needham Market, Suffolk