A member of a group of Polisario dissidents, known as "Polisario-Khatt Achahid" (line of the martyr), was arrested in Tindouf (southwestern Algeria) by the polisario's militias, Sahrawi activists in Spain said on Wednesday.

The Moroccan autonomy proposal in the southern provinces "represents the future for the peoples of the Sahara," said Tuesday in Rabat, the chairman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group Europe Morocco, Mr. Philippe Morillon.

The British government welcomed the efforts made by the former Personal Envoy of UN Secretary-General for the Sahara, Peter Van Walsum, to reach a solution to the conflict.

The European Union on Tuesday reiterated support for substantial negotiations on the Sahara based on realism and spirit of compromise, hailing the adoption by the 4th Commission of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) of a consensual resolution on this issue.

Morocco's autonomy proposal offers the "best solution" to the Sahara issue, said Mayor of the Portuguese city of Silves, Maria Soares.