Fifteen Sahrawi families benefited on Saturday from a new family visits exchange programme, conducted under the auspices of the High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR).

The Moroccan proposal to grant autonomy to its southern provinces, the Sahara, is a "good basis for negotiations" to settle the Sahara issue, Governor of the State of Virginia, Timothy Kaine said.

Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have favourably welcomed the UN Secretary General's latest report on the Sahara, Chairman of the Council and Mexican ambassador, Claude Heller, said on Wednesday.

Moroccan Foreign Minister, Taib Fassi Fihri, on Tuesday, called on Algeria to "completely normalize relations and reopen borders closed since 1994" to promote Maghreban integration.

Mrs. Hajbouha Zubeir member of the Council, head of the women entrepreneurs in Laayoune and representing the "International Business & Professional Women" in Morocco, during a workshop organized within the framework of the Civil Society Forum of Durban II, highlighted the achievements of Moroccan women and their contribution in the service of social and economic development of the Kingdom, especially in the southern regions.