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Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, received today the UK’s new ambassador to Rabat, Simon Martin CMG.
The British ambassador presented his letter of credence to Bourita and, through him, to King Mohammed VI.
The UK announced the appointment of Martin in Rabat in February. The new UK ambassador replaces Thomas Reilly who served in Morocco between 2017 and 2020.
A father of four, Martin is an experienced diplomat who served at the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1984.
He served in several locations across the world, including Britain, Myanmar, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
The new ambassador has held both diplomatic and commercial positions, such as Deputy Head of the Southern European Department, Deputy Head of Mission in Prague, and Deputy Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.
Before his appointment in Morocco, Martin served as the UK’s ambassador to Bahrain, between 2015 and 2019.
Martin will be the first UK ambassador to serve in Morocco after Brexit. He will have the mission of strengthening relations with Morocco, which British officials consider as a “gateway to Africa.”
Read also: Former UK Minister: Morocco Is Best Gateway Between Africa and Europe
The new ambassador will also have to build on the mission of ambassador Reilly, who succeeded in forging good connections with the Moroccan government, as well as several local partners.
Before the end of his mission in Morocco, Reilly led the creation of a strategic dialogue between British and Moroccan officials and negotiated several agreements, including a UK-Morocco education treaty, an extradition treaty, a mutual legal assistance treaty, and a bilateral trade agreement replacing the EU-Morocco Association Agreement.
