The third informal meeting, preparatory to the 5th round of negotiations aimed at finding a final, political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara, opened on Monday in Manhasset (near New York) in the presence of delegations from Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and polisario, the United Nations (UN) said.

The operation of distributing plots of land in Laayoune reinforces efforts in order to enable disadvantaged groups to accede to social housing, as part of a comprehensive approach aimed at improving the living conditions of populations.

Morocco will participate in the third informal meeting on the Sahara, due in New York outskirts on November 7-9, building on a negotiations approach which confirms the spirit of consensus, realism and the autonomy plan's democratic dimensions, Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri said on Thursday in Rabat.

Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud "has remained confined to the remote" area of Mhiriz, although the polisario announced his release on October 6, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Wednesday.

By endorsing the Moroccan autonomy proposal in the southern provinces, a "just" solution able to put an end to the Sahara conflict, tens of thousands of Sahrawi refuse thus to undergo the scare tactics advocated by Polisario, wrote New York Post on Tuesday.