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.

The Moroccan initiative to negotiate an autonomy statute in the Sahara region was explained Tuesday in Mexico City, at a conference held by Abdellahi Ahl Abdelkader, a member of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs(Corcas).

The preservation of Morocco’s territorial unity "is one of our main constants," said the secretary general of the World Mediation Forum, Mr. Marwane El Faouri.