Marrakech – A Mauritanian military delegation began a five-day visit to Morocco this week, the latest in a series of exchanges between the two neighbors’ armed forces. The visit runs from November 2 to 6, according to a statement from the Mauritanian National Army on its Facebook page.
Colonel Sidi Mohamed Ould Hammadi, commander of Mauritania’s National College of Command and Staff, leads the delegation. The visit opened Tuesday at the Royal Academy of Higher Military Studies in Kenitra, where the academy’s commander, Brigadier General Lahcen Hajjami, and a number of officers received the group. Talks there centered on relations between the two colleges and prospects for cooperation.
Accompanying Ould Hammadi are Major Fadel Mokhtar Mbarek, director of the education organization at the college, and Major Mohamed Ahmed Amhamed, who heads its operational training office.
The visit follows an exchange in the opposite direction. In late October, a Moroccan delegation from the Royal Air School in Marrakech paid a working visit to the Military Flight School in Atar. Colonel Khalid Khabouzi led the Moroccan group, which was briefed on the school’s role in training pilot officers and non-commissioned flight technicians.
The program there included a field tour of the flight simulation system, the training management sections, classrooms, and training aircraft, along with the teaching and training equipment used in instruction.
The delegation met the Atar school’s commander, Colonel Mohamed Mustapha Abdi Fall, and the two sides exchanged views on bilateral military cooperation, particularly aviation training. The Mauritanian army described the visit as part of efforts to share expertise and strengthen cooperation, especially in training.
A third exchange took place in September. On September 15 and 16, a delegation from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) visited Mauritania for several meetings with the General Staff of the Armies.
The sessions were held at the Armies Conference Center, and Colonel Souleymane El Hadj Abdi, commander of the External Operations Office within the Operations Division, oversaw their opening. Colonel Said Lamrani led the Moroccan delegation, according to the Mauritanian army. That visit fell under the action plan of the Joint Military Committee linking the two armies.
In April, Morocco and Mauritania held the sixth session of their Joint Military Commission in Nouakchott, co-chaired by Mohammed Berrid, Inspector General of Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and Commander of the Southern Zone, and Mauritanian Army Chief of Staff Mohamed Vall Rayess Rayess.
The April 7-8 meetings focused on strengthening bilateral military cooperation, reviewing joint activities, and planning future initiatives, according to both countries’ military authorities.
The military contacts come as the UN mission in Western Sahara winds down. On October 30, the UN Security Council failed to renew the mandate of its peacekeeping force, MINURSO, after competing American and Russian draft resolutions both fell short.
The mission’s liquidation began the following Sunday, with a small team now overseeing the transfer of its equipment.
Nouakchott has restated its stance. Government spokesman Mohamed Ould Babana described Mauritania’s position on the conflict as “total positive neutrality,” adding that the country considers itself part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
Mauritanian authorities have also urged citizens in areas bordering Western Sahara – herders, nomads, and prospectors among them – to move back inside national territory and keep away from the border line.
