Moroccan and American governments have had "several discussions" about the Moroccan initiative to grant substantial autonomy to its southern provinces, the Sahara, and "their stances are currently very close," said Under Secretary of State, Nicholas Burns.



     "We have backed Morocco's initiative in New York. There have been many discussions between the Moroccan and American governments. We are very close," he said at a press conference organized Monday by the European American Press Club in Paris.
 
    The US official voiced hope to see "some progress" during the negotiations in New York, slated for June 18-19, underlining that the Moroccan initiative for negotiating an autonomy status for the Sahara region is a "very good initiative."
 
    The Moroccan initiative, which was submitted to the UN Secretary General early April, is meant to end the three-decade-old Sahara dispute opposing Morocco to the Algerian-backed Polisario separatists, who lay claims to Morocco's Southern Provinces (the Sahara) that the North African kingdom retrieved in 1975.
 
    The UN Security Council unanimously adopted, on April 30, the Resolution 1754, lauding Morocco’s efforts as “serious and credible”, and calling upon the parties to enter into negotiations “without preconditions in good faith,” with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution.