The United Nations affirmed Friday that Mr. Peter Van Walsum is still the UN mediator concerning the Sahara issue and that “his status has not changed”.
« Mr. Van Walsum’s status has not changed. He is still the personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General and participates in the reflection process concerning the next steps of negotiations process”, declared the assistant spokeswoman of the UN Secretary General, Marie Okabe, during a news conference in New York.

The family visits exchange operation, led by the High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), among Tindouf camps, in Southern Algeria and the Southern provinces of the Kingdom, was followed, Friday, by the organization of the 23rd trip during 2008, from and towards Oued Eddahab and Aousserd provinces.
49 beneficiaries belonging to 8 families participated in this exchange, indicates a press release of the Moroccan Coordination Bureau with the Minurso

The Arab Lawyers Union (ALU) has urged the parties concerned by the Sahara issue to implement the autonomy project proposed by Morocco in order to settle this matter. In the recommendations declared publicly, on Saturday evening, in Beirut, at the end of the first session of its permanent bureau held this year, the ALU affirms that the Moroccan initiative has stirred up a large adhesion, particularly from the United Nations and the European Union, but also from the heads of State and government of many countries,