(2/25/2008) Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi said that the Moroccan proposal to grant broad autonomy to the southern provinces was "a consensual solution in conformity with Security Council resolutions" for the settlement of the Sahara issue.

The Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Peter Van Walsum, starts a visit to the region from February 6 to February 14, UN spokesman, Michèle Montas said, on Monday.

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon said participants in the third round of Manhasset negotiations on the Sahara (January 7-9) concurred on the need for "a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations."

Deputy chairman of the European Parliament budget committee, Ralf Walter, called on the European Commission (EC) to publish the investigation report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on Polisario's embezzlement of humanitarian aid in Tindouf camps, southwest Algeria.

Morocco proved good will during the recent negotiations on the Sahara dispute with Algerian-backed separatist movement "Polisario" in Manhasset (outskirts of New York), unlike the "negative, fixed, and sterile attitude of the other party," minister of Communication and Government spokesperson, Khalid Naciri, said on Thursday.