In a meeting held, here Tuesday, with the Speaker of the House of Advisors, the Djibouti minister reiterated that his country backs Morocco's right to defend and preserve its territorial integrity, insisting that settling the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara "goes necessarily through political and peaceful channels."
 
    In this respect, Youssouf underlined that "supporting Morocco to consolidate its territorial integrity" is among the constant priorities of Djibouti's government.
 
    The autonomy plan, which is due to be presented next April to the United Nations security Council, is meant to put an end to the three-decade-old conflict in the North African region, where the separatist movement, backed by Morocco's eastern neighbor Algeria, claims independence of the former Spanish colony retrieved by the kingdom in 1975 under the Madrid Accord.