Editor Ali Lmrabet ended his 47-day hunger strike on 23 June. Ali Lmrabet, editor of the newspapers Demain Magazine and Douman, was found guilty of "insulting the person of the king" and of committing an "offence against the monarchy" and "an offence against territorial integrity" on 12 May 2003 and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. The sentence was reduced to three years' imprisonment on appeal on 17 June 2003.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has voiced its mounting concern over the worsening condition of jailed newspaper editor Ali Lmrabet, the organisation's correspondent in Morocco, who was rushed from his prison cell to hospital on 26 May 2003. Lmrabet has been on hunger strike since 6 May and is now refusing even water. His lawyers yesterday described his state of health as "worrying." Lmrabet began serving a four-year prison sentence for "insulting the king" on 21 May.

The United Nations Security Council will Tuesday vote on a new United States sponsored autonomy plan for the Western Sahara. The proposal is seen by observers in the Moroccan capital city of Rabat as a ''victory'' for Morocco, while the Polisario Front - who are fighting for the independence of the Sahara - believe it will plunge the North African region back into war.

The United Nations on Tuesday proposed a partition of Western Sahara as one of four possible solutions to a 25-year dispute over whether the contested territory should be free or a part of Morocco. While neither side was now willing to discuss dividing up the phosphate-rich territory, which also may have offshore oil deposits, U.N. special envoy and former Secretary of State James Baker said the Security Council could choose to present a partition plan to both sides on a nonnegotiable basis.