News
Tuesday 24 March 2015

Morocco’s foreign minister meets UK Foreign Secretary

Vocal synthesis
Morocco’s foreign minister meets UK Foreign Secretary

Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar held, on Tuesday in London, talks with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on bilateral relations and a range of international and regional issues of common concern.

The talks tackled the latest development at the regional scene as well as the evolvement of the situation in Iraq, Syria and Yemen along with the Palestinian issues, the fight against terrorism and the peace talks to settle the Libyan crisis.

During the meeting, the two parties noted a convergence of views regarding the excellent bilateral.

 Mezouar and Hammond stressed the need to further diversify relations between the two countries while highlighting the longstanding diplomatic ties between the monarchies in Morocco and the UK.

On regional issues, Hammond applauded Morocco for facilitating the UN-sponsored peace talks in Skhirate near Rabat.

Concerning the fight against terrorism and extremism, the two mnisters agreed to continue cooperation in countering this transnational threat. In this respect, Hammond lauded Morocco for its efforts to anchor stability in the region as well as for championing the values of peace and moderation.

The British Foreign Secretary also expressed his country’s interest in learning from Morocco’s experience in terms of re-organising the religious sphere and the training of Imams.

The two ministers voiced support for Tunisia in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis. They also expressed concern regarding the deterioration of security conditions in Yemen while calling for the Yemeni factions to uphold dialogue.

On the situation in Iraq and Syria, the two ministers pointed out to the threats posed by IS terrorist organisation and its influence on other groups in the Sahel and Africa.

On the same occasion, Mezouar raised the situation in Palestine in light of the continuing Israeli aggressions on Palestine and the holy city of Al Quds, noting that Morocco whose King chairs the Al Quds Committee condemn Israeli attempts at altering the character of the holy city and the continuing settlement operations by Israel.

Mezouar also reiterated Morocco’s call for a return to the table of negotiations with a view of achieving the creation of a Palestinian state with Al Quds as its capital.

MAP 25 March 2015