Increasingly close ties between the terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and "Polisario" are a threat to the Sahel and Maghreb countries, warns a report by the U.S. think tank, Atlantic Council, and the Soufan Group, which specializes in international strategic issues.

Several non-governmental organizations denounced, during the twentieth session of the Human Rights Council held last Thursday in Geneva, human rights confiscation in the areas subject to the control of separatist militias, including Tindouf camps.

Visiting Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Garcia-Margallo reiterated, Wednesday in Rabat, his country's support for a "peaceful, negotiated solution" to the Sahara issue.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed the new Special Representative of the MINURSO, Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber of Germany, to replace Hany Abdel-Aziz of Egypt, who completed his assignment on 30 April, said the U.N. Spokesperson Martin Nesirky.

“Polisario involvement in abduction acts reveals to the world the true face" of the separatist group which appears to be a "liberation movement," said Jeremy Keenan Thursday in London, who is an international expert of the Sahel and North Africa.