United States President, Georges W. Bush, has confirmed that Morocco's initiative to grant substantial autonomy to its Southern Provinces -the Sahara- under the kingdom's sovereignty, is the only solution to the 32-year old dispute over the former Spanish colony, and insisted that an independent State, as claimed by the Algerian-backed separatist movement "Polisario", is not a realistic option.

 The Republic of Kenya continues to support the UN Security Council's stance regarding the Sahara issue, affirmed, here Wednesday, visiting Kenyan Vice Prime Minister and Trade Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta.

The director of the french Observatory of Geopolitical Studies (OEG), Mr. Charles Saint-Prot, said that the Algerian theories concerning the Sahara "are no longer topical" and that "Algiers obstinacy puts the region in danger."

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission in the French parliament, Axel Poniatowski, deemed on Monday "inappropriate" the initiative by a French communist MP to organize a conference on the Moroccan Sahara in the Palais de Bourbon on Thursday.

The Regional integration of the Maghreb is blocked in large part because of the dispute over the Sahara issue, said Eneko Landaburu, Director General for External Relations of the European Commission.