The polisario tried to cancel, from the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF), the documentary "Stolen" which highlights the pro-slavery practices in the Tindouf camps (Algeria's south-west), the Festival's organizers said.

A document by UN Secretary General on the Sahara issue, which was recently published on the Internet, has "no status", Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Martin Nesirky said on Thursday in New York.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) will hold consultations on the Sahara issue on April 15-27, announced, on Monday in New York, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the U.N. and President of the U.N. Security Council for April, Nestor Osorio.

A number of US congressmen have called on the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to encourage the current political negotiating process on the Sahara, taking into consideration the Moroccan autonomy initiative "as the foundation for any solution."

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé described Morocco's autonomy plan as "a serious and credible negotiation basis for achieving a lasting settlement of the Sahara issue."