The United Nations Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Peter van Walsum, has criticized the Spanish civil society for having encouraged "Polisario" to bank on independence and contributed to "prolonging the agony" of the people held in the Tindouf camps (southwest of Algeria).

The former french minister of Culture and Education, Mr. Jack Lang said that the Moroccan autonomy proposal is "wise and reasonable proposal to break the impasse".

"The Sahara is near" was the theme of the first international summer camp in the southern provinces held until August 13, 20 km from laayoune, at the initiative of the Moroccan Alternatives Forum and the Spanish Catholic scouts.

The United States has shown "unequivocal support" for the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Peter van Walsum, deeming "impartial" and "realistic" his efforts to settle the Sahara issue, said a U.S. diplomatic source quoted Tuesday by the Moroccan daily "Aujourd'hui le Maroc".

Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister, Zaïnab Bangura, reaffirmed, here Monday, her country's support for Morocco's proposal to grant substantial autonomy to the Sahara region.