US backs Morocco's autonomy plan for Sahara

The US has reiterated that Morocco's autonomy plan for the disputed Sahara region is "serious, realistic, and credible" and represents a potential approach that could satisfy the aspirations of the people in the Sahara to run their own affairs in peace and dignity.

The US view was enunciated in a joint statement released at the end of the third Session of the US-Morocco Strategic Dialogue, co-chaired by US Secretary of State John Kerry wth his Moroccan counterpart Salaheddine Mezouar.

Kerry "reaffirmed the US commitment to a peaceful, sustainable, mutually agreed-upon solution" to the Sahara question (in Morocco's dispute with neighbouring Algeria), adds the joint statement cited by the MAP news agency.

The US "supports the negotiations carried out by the United Nations, including the work of the UN Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Christopher Ross, and urges the parties to work toward a just, lasting, and mutually agreed political solution".

Kerry and Mezouar affirmed their "shared commitment to the improvement of the lives of the people in the Sahara and discussed appropriate ways to meet that goal".