Mr. Khalihenna Ould Errachid, chairman of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, received Friday in Rabat, Mr. Christopher Ross, Special Envoy of Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations for the Sahara, who had been received Thursday by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in the city of Tetouan.

President of the Republic of Gabon, Haj Ali Bongo Ondimba held talks, on Tuesday, with the Chairman of the Royal Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), Khalihenna Ould Errachid.

Morocco's permanent representative to the UN office at Geneva said on Monday that the situation in the Tindouf camps (southwest of Algeria) is a source of concern not only for Morocco, but also for the entire region.

Independence as an option to settle the Sahara issue can only be seen as a "less promising start for a viable state", Director of the Africa Project at the New York-based National Committee on American Foreign Policy said Thursday in Wahsinghton.

Morocco's autonomy proposal for its Southern provinces, the Sahara, is a "new platform for discussions", former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Welch said here Thursday.