"We received a Moroccan delegation, in Paris, that presented the autonomy project ideas," and "we had underlined, at the time, that these ideas looked constructive," said the spokesman, underlining that France "hopes that they will be taken into consideration in the forthcoming UN discussions."
 
    "We hope the parties concerned can reach agreement under the auspices of the United nations," he said. "But we consider that the Moroccan ideas are constructive and deserve to be taken into consideration," he underlined.
 
    French president Jacques Chirac had earlier described as "constructive" the autonomy plan, which is due to be submitted to the UN Security Council in April, in the aim to put an end to the 30-year-old dispute over the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accord signed with Spain and Mauritania. The Algeria-backed separatists lay claims to this territory since 1976.