Mauritania pins great hopes on Moroccan king's visit
Mauritania-Morocco, Politics, 9/6/2001

Nouakchott is pinning great hopes on the official visit King Mohammed VI will pay to Mauritania this September 10 through 12, said Mauritanian minister of communication and relations with the Parliament, Rachid Ould Saleh.

Ould Saleh, who is also the government's spokesman, told MAP all Mauritanians were looking forward to this visit as it will open new prospects and will further enhance bilateral relations at the economic, cultural and social scales.

The Mauritanian official, who is in Morocco to take part in the 4th session of the Maghreban consultative council held in Rabat September 5-6, said his country is also expecting the royal visit to give a new momentum to the edification process of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), all the more so as the two countries believe in the need to set up this union on sound, firm bases and to come up with a strong grouping.

UMA was set up in Marrakesh in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Its structures are however paralyzed due to strained relations between some member countries and especially between Morocco and Algeria over Algiers' direct involvement in the Sahara issue.

The Mauritanian official added that his country's people and government are attached to the edification of the UMA and hope that all obstacles hampering this edification will be lowered down.

In Nouakchott, Morocco's ambassador to Mauritania, Abderrahmane Benomar, described the royal visit as historic and said it will mark a turning point in the two countries relations.

The diplomat who was attending a dinner-debate with the press earlier this week explained the impact of the visit that will give a new momentum to bilateral relations in the political, economic, social and cultural realms.

Recalling that President Mouaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya had paid an official visit to Morocco in April 2000, the diplomat said the visit falls in the frame of a new vision of cooperation, consultation and regular contacts between the two heads of state.

Previous Stories:
  King Mohammed pays official visit to Mauritania next week   (9/3/2001)
  Mauritanian weekly: Mauritania pins great hopes on Moroccan king's visit   (8/14/2001)
  Mauritanian senate speaker winds up visit to Morocco   (7/23/2001)

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