The UN Security Council (UNSC) will hold consultations on the Sahara issue on April 15-27, announced, on Monday in New York, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the U.N. and President of the U.N. Security Council for April, Nestor Osorio.

A number of US congressmen have called on the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to encourage the current political negotiating process on the Sahara, taking into consideration the Moroccan autonomy initiative "as the foundation for any solution."

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé described Morocco's autonomy plan as "a serious and credible negotiation basis for achieving a lasting settlement of the Sahara issue."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, on Wednesday in Washington, that Morocco's plan to grant broad autonomy to its southern provinces, the Sahara, is a "serious, realistic and credible" proposal.

Colombian Foreign Minister reaffirmed that his country maintains since 2001 its freezing of the recognition of the so-called SADR.