"The United States are interested in the project on enlarged autonomy" in the Moroccan southern provinces, said Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa at the end of a meeting here Tuesday with American Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

Benaissa told the press that the United States are interested in the enlarged autonomy project Morocco is to present to the United nations to settle the Sahara issue, recalling the interest was also voiced by American ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, on the occasion of the UN Security Council vote on the issue.

The Moroccan Foreign Minister said the autonomy project is currently subject to consultation among Moroccan political parties and with the populations of the southern provinces, known as the Sahara.

Morocco is working out the autonomy project as a solution to the conflict, triggered in 1975 by the Algeria-backed "Polisario" that claims the separation of the provinces from Morocco. The latter retrieved them from Spanish rule at that time under the Madrid accord.

“The USA give great interest in the reforms implemented and those underway at the initiative of King Mohammed VI,” Benaissa said, adding his talks with Rice revolved around the Sahara issue, bilateral relations, and the latest developments in Africa, Iraq…