"The Senegal, a friend and a brother country of Morocco, can only welcome resolution 1813 of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which endorses the recommendation of the Secretary-General, according to which it is essential that the parties show realism and a spirit of compromise," said Senegalese foreign minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio.

In an interview Monday with MAP, the minister noted that the personal envoy of UN Secretary-General, Peter Van Walsum, has a "concrete" content in the appeal to "realism" and "compromise," recognizing that "the only realistic and lasting solution to the conflict, is the autonomy of Sahara under the Moroccan sovereignty."

Mr. Gadio said his country "notes with satisfaction" that the UNSC welcomed the "serious and credible" efforts made by the north African country to move forward towards resolving the Sahara issue.

The Sahara dispute opposes Morocco and the "Polisario" since 1976, a year after the former colonial power, Spain, ceded the territory to the kingdom, under the Madrid Accords.

The UNSC had adopted unanimously, last Wednesday, resolution 1813 over the Sahara endorsing the call for realism and a spirit of compromise launched by the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy for the Sahara.

Morocco and the Polisario have so far held four rounds of UN-led talks in a bid to solve the Sahara dispute (June 18-19, August 10-11, January 7-9 and March 16-18). A fifth round is expected, but no date has been set so far.

In reaction to the UNSC resolution, the United States underlined that the autonomy of the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty is the only realistic solution to solve the dispute and that the establishment of an "independent Sahrawi state is not a realistic option ".

Senegal has also called on Africa to "massively follow" the path undertaken by the UN and "consolidated" by the US, which recommends "realism" for settling the Sahara issue and rejects independence as a solution.