Extraordinary ministerial meeting of mediterranean forum starts in Agadir
Regional, Politics, 10/26/2001

The extraordinary ministerial meeting of the Mediterranean forum, held at the initiative of Morocco's King Mohammed VI, started proceedings here this Friday morning to discuss the situation in the region in the aftermath of the terror attacks of September 11 against the United States.

The foreign ministers will exchange standpoints on security issues and will debate consequences entailed by the terror attacks at the social, economic and cultural scales.

The participants were guest to a work breakfast hosted in their honor by Greek foreign minister, Georges Papandreou, whose country is chairing the forum, before they met behind closed doors.

King Mohammed VI had called for the extraordinary meeting of the Mediterranean forum last September 28 when he received Portuguese foreign minister, Jaime Gama.

The sovereign had stressed that it was important for Mediterranean countries to think jointly about the best answer to an international situation that has experienced deep changes.

Several foreign ministers participating in the forum hailed in separate statements upon arrival in Agadir Thursday evening the sovereign's initiative, as it is the first meeting between the Arab world and European countries since September 11 and as it provides opportunity to promote inter-civilization and inter-religion dialogue.

They said the Agadir meeting provides Mediterranean countries with the opportunity to think together over the eradication of terrorism, and as put by the Greek foreign minister, to eradicate the causes on which terrorism thrives and to fill in the gap between rich and poor countries.

The Greek official said terrorism thrives on misery and poverty.

Several other foreign ministers, including Moroccan Mohamed Benaissa, said the Agadir meeting will help clear out the amalgam that some make between terrorism and Islam and Arabs.

Arab countries and their European friends will examine ways of putting an end to this amalgam, Benaissa said.

Minister delegate to the Algerian foreign minister, Amine Kherbi, expressed hope that the Agadir meeting would define appropriate means to ensure the security in the two shores of the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean forum, set up in 1994 by Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey, is an informal forum of consultation and dialogue between these Mediterranean countries.

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