Participants at a roundtable in Geneva over the Sahara were unanimous in stressing the relevance of the Moroccan autonomy initiative in the southern provinces, which was, they said, "the best solution" to this ongoing conflict. 

The U.S. daily "New York Times" published Wednesday an article recounting "the harsh living conditions'' in the Polisario camps in Tindouf, south-west Algeria.  The newspaper reported testimonies of members of a delegation of former hostages in the Tindouf camps, having paid a visit to the United States early May to speak to officials, congressmen and American media about the plight of populations in those camps. "New York Times" says that members of the delegation described the camps as "prisons where corruption reigns''. Quoted by the newspaper, Said Abderahman, explained how he fled the Tindouf camps with his wife Salma Essalek who was pregnant, stating they were chased by "Polisario" agents through a minefield

The Moroccan autonomy proposal in the southern provinces is "constructive" and "likely to bring a solution to the Sahara conflict," said Iranian ambassador to Morocco, Mr. Wahid Ahmadi, stressing that his country's position regarding the dispute "has not changed since Iran has froze all its relations with Polisario 17 years ago".  The Iranian diplomat, who was speaking at a meeting with the Moroccan press, Tuesday in Rabat, said that his country welcomed "any initiative to help resolve this conflict." On whether Iranians took part in the pseudo festivities organised by Polisario in the Tifariti buffer zone, Mr. Wahid Ahmadi replied that "this information comes from the Algerian media."

A Sahrawi Family, which benefited from the 17th exchange family visit organized in 2008 from and to the southern city of Laayoune, decided not to return to the Camps of Tindouf (Southwest Algeria), to settle once and for good in Morocco.Souni Ould al-Hafd, 88, and three of his children decided to return to Morocco to end years of suffering away from Morocco since he was kidnapped by the Polisario in 1976. "I returned to my country to which we belong," Sheikh Souni said, adding that his decision to stay in the homeland, along with his three children, stems from "our attachment to the unity of our country, whose efforts we support in order to unite families."

Former Polisario members who have returned to Morocco called on Algeria and Polisario to "enroll in the spirit of realism and compromise advocated by the international community" to find a settlement to the dispute over the Sahara issue.