The four-day event, called Rabat 2011, is being attended by Simon Limage, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation Programs at State Department and the representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

    Limage and the IAEA's representative said Morocco has played a pivotal role as part of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, launched in 2006 in Morocco.

    They stressed the need to reinforce the states' capacities to better fight illicit traffic in radioactive materials and to exchange expertise and information.   

    Around 150 national and foreign experts, military officials, walis, governors and diplomats accredited in Rabat, attended the opening ceremony.