Rabat, Nov 7 (IANS): Morocco's King Mohammed VI has said that autonomy was the only way towards settlement of the Moroccan-Sahara issue, while guaranteeing full respect for the Kingdom's national unity and territorial integrity.

"The Autonomy Initiative provides for that solution, given that it is not only serious and credible, but also rooted in sound principles. It is the only way forward towards a settlement guaranteeing full respect for the Kingdom's national unity and territorial integrity," the King said in a speech to the nation on Wednesday on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the Green March.

He said that Morocco has always been clear in its position concerning the "Moroccanness of the Sahara as much as in its firm belief in the justness of its cause and the legitimacy of its rights", MAP news agency quoted him as saying.

He stressed that the Kingdom will continue to "work honestly and in good faith to achieve a political, realistic, practical and consensual solution based exclusively on the political approach adopted by the United Nations Organization and the relevant Security Council resolutions".