Benabdallah told the Asharq Al-Awsat daily, that "contrary to what is happening in the camps of Tindouf", Morocco is presenting a project for a "democratic society" which is to be "the lasting solution of the Sahara issue".

    The Sahara conflict was triggered in the mid seventies by the claim of the Algeria-backed "Polisario" to separate from Morocco its southern provinces, retrieved from Spanish rule under the Madrid accords. The separatist movement lured at the time thousands of Sahrawis from their homes into the camps of Tindouf, south-west Algeria.

    Morocco, Benabdellah went on to say, is working out a modern, democratic projects aiming at "bringing in all the components of its people, including those who joined the other band and were misled into separatism."

    Benabdallah reaffirmed Morocco’s stand that any solution to the Sahara issue should come part of the national sovereignty and the unity of the territorial integrity of the kingdom.

    The minister recalled that the UNO insists on seeking a political, comprehensive and lasting solution based on agreement of all the sides concerned.

    The stance of the United States, France and Spain has prompted Morocco « to present a project much more precise and transparent, he said explaining that the project of a large autonomy lies on a process of consultation with political parties and the inhabitants of the southern provinces.

    Benabdallah also spoke of the current visit of King Mohammed VI in the provinces, which tour reaffirms once more the symbiosis between the Sovereign and the inhabitants of the region.