The Moroccan autonomy proposal in the southern provinces is "constructive" and "likely to bring a solution to the Sahara conflict," said Iranian ambassador to Morocco, Mr. Wahid Ahmadi, stressing that his country's position regarding the dispute "has not changed since Iran has froze all its relations with Polisario 17 years ago".

Former Polisario members who have returned to Morocco called on Algeria and Polisario to "enroll in the spirit of realism and compromise advocated by the international community" to find a settlement to the dispute over the Sahara issue.

Morocco insisted that it will not accept, under any circumstances, that the status quo be modified in the Tifariti zone, which has been, since the 1991 UN-brokered ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario, free from any civil or military presence.

Mauritanian People's Rally, reiterated on Tuesday its and full support to the Moroccan initiative to grant the Sahara considerable autonomy within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty.

The British monthly North-South stressed that the latest statements by the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Sahara, Mr. Peter van Walsum, saying that independence in the Sahara is not realistic, is part of a reality shared by UN diplomatic circles.