During a press conference in Algiers, reported by some Algerian newspapers on Tuesday, the American diplomat described Morocco's autonomy project for the Sahara as credible and bringing ideas, adding that "the position of the United States is in favour of the examination of the autonomy project" and that "the two parties must discuss it under the auspices of the United Nations."

    He added that should the Polisario have proposals to make with regard to the form of the autonomy and the modes of its implementation, it has just to state its project.

    The United States believes that the autonomy can, at the pragmatic level, contribute to improving the living conditions of Sahrawi refugees living in the camps, Robert S. Ford said, adding that the two parties to the conflict can find a solution, and that the autonomy can make things move forward in favour of Sahrawis.

    President Georges W. Bush had underlined, in a recent letter to king Mohammed VI, that the U.S deems that “the Sahara autonomy under the Moroccan sovereignty is the only realistic solution to western Sahara conflict.”

     In this letter, the U.S. president also voiced "our support for substantive negotiations on this issue within the framework of the United Nations,” describing the autonomy proposal submitted by the Kingdom as "credible and serious".

Source: MAP
News and events on Western Sahara issue/ Corcas