Morocco's plan to grant autonomy to its southern provinces, the Sahara, is a "serious initiative" to reach a final solution to the Sahara conflict, Head of the Unit for the Middle East and North Africa at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Helena Tuuri, said, here Wednesday.
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Tuuri, who was speaking to the press following a meeting with chairman of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), Khalihenna Ould Errachid, voiced support for a mutually acceptable political solution to this issue.
In a bid to solve the dispute over The Sahara, Morocco submitted in 2007 an autonomy plan for the territory, which allows the local population to democratically run its own affairs.
While the Algerian-backed Polisario separatists call for the independence of the Sahara, Morocco says autonomy under its sovereignty is the sole possible solution to the conflict.
The autonomy plan has triggered four rounds of UN-brokered talks between Morocco, Algeria and the Polisario. It was hailed as serious and credible by the international community.
Statement:
We hope political settlement will be acceptable to all parties. I think that the Moroccan initiative is a serious framework for a settlement.
Source: MAP
News and events on Western Sahara issue/ Corcas