Istiqlal party leader meets heads of Italian parties in rome
Morocco-Italy, Politics, 1/29/2000

Secretary general of the Istiqlal Party, Abbas El Fassi, held talks in Rome since he started his visit to Italy on Wednesday with leaders of major Italian political parties, representatives, senators and unionists.

Talks, described by El Fassi as "friendly and fruitful" mainly focused on the issue of Morocco's territorial integrity, reasons behind the delay in implementing the U.N settlement plan on the Sahara and Morocco's stand on the plan.

El Fassi told his interlocutors that Morocco would not accept that one single citizen of Sahara origin be deprived of his right to participate in the U.N projected referendum.

The referendum would determine whether the Sahara, a southern Moroccan territory that was formerly under Spanish rule and that was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords, remains part of Morocco or sets up on its own, as claimed by a separatist movement, the Polisario. The referendum has been repeatedly postponed because of the Polisario maneuvers to shrink the voters' list.

The Istiqlal party leader told MAP bureau here that he felt during his talks that Italian leaders were not properly and sufficiently informed about Morocco's stand on the Sahara.

The Istiqlal party leader also expounded to his Italian interlocutors the gains scored by Morocco in political and human rights matters, the situation in the kingdom after the enthronement of King Mohammed VI last July, and relations between Morocco and Italy, especially in matters of economy and investments. He called in this respect on Italian political leaders to push Italian economic operators to invest in Morocco, a promising emerging market.

The obstacles hampering the march of the Arab Maghreb were brought up during the talks.

El Fassi's trip is part of a series of visits to a number of Mediterranean countries linked to Morocco with economic, social and cultural relations.

The Istiqlal party is participating in the center-left coalition government led by socialist Abderrahmane Youssoufi.

Previous Stories:
  Istiqlal party leader meets heads of Italian parties   (1/27/2000)
  Istiqlal party leader in Italy   (1/26/2000)
  Italian foreign trade minister in Morocco next week   (1/26/2000)

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