Rabat - King Mohammed VI will visit Mauritania in the coming days during his next round tour of Africa, aiming to bring a conclusive end to tension between the two countries, reported Moroccan daily newspaper Al Massae on Thursday.
Rabat – King Mohammed VI will visit Mauritania in the coming days during his next round tour of Africa, aiming to bring a conclusive end to tension between the two countries, reported Moroccan daily newspaper Al Massae on Thursday.
Coordination for the King’s visit in Mauritania is being run by the army and intelligence’s officials of the two counties, according to the source, and a special ceremony is being prepared to receive the King in Mauritania in order to clear the old conflicts between the two countries.
The same source further noted that Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces Fathallah Warraq and other senior military officials will visit the southern region following the recent tension between Morocco and Polisario’s militias in the buffer zone of Guerarate, in Moroccan Sahara.
The strain on Mauritanian-Moroccan relations was recently intensified following Istiqlal Party (PI) Secretary General Hamid Chabat’s announcement in December 2016 that “Mauritania lays on Moroccan soil and it is a land that is purely Moroccan.”
Shortly after Chabat’s statement, King Mohammed VI spoke with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz over the phone to reiterate his support for Mauritania’s territorial integrity. He also assigned Morocco’s appointed Head of Government, Abdelilah Benkirane, as his envoy to travel to Mauritaniadiscuss with Abdel Aziz past tensions, including Chabat’s statement.
Benkirane held a press conference after the meeting, announcing that future ties between the two countries will be further strengthened in order for Mauritanian citizens to feel that they enjoy all their rights in Morocco and vice-versa.
In a recent interview with France24, Abdel Aziz said that “the relation between Morocco and Mauritania is not as bad as it is claimed.” On the contrary, he noted that “the relations between the two countries are good” and that “both Morocco and Mauritania are not satisfied about the situation of their relations.”
