Interior Minister convinced Morocco, Algeria can work 'hand in hand'
Algeria-Morocco, Politics, 7/21/2004

Moroccan Minister of Interior Al Mostafa Sahel, on Tuesday, said he was convinced that Morocco and Algeria can work hand in hand to face what he termed "common challenges."

The Minister made this statement upon arrival in Algiers on a two-day "working visit" to Algeria where he is expected to be received by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

"I am convinced that we can work hand in hand and give a new impetus to the construction of a united and complementary Arab Maghreb, as a strategic choice to the service of the two (countries) peoples, and as a means to face common challenges in a world characterized by globalization and regional groupings," the minister said.

Morocco and Algeria are at loggerheads because of the latter's support to the separatist movement "Polisario" that is seeking the separation of the Southern provinces of the Sahara from Morocco. The former Spanish colony was recuperated by the Kingdom in 1975 under the Madrid accords signed with Spain and Mauritania.

The Sahara dispute has also hampered the construction of the North African regional grouping Arab Maghreb Union (known by its French acronym "UMA") and mustering Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.

In his statement, the Moroccan minister also underlined the "historical ties and the common history" between the two countries who share a "well determined destiny."

This visit, he went on, confirms what he described as "a positive dynamics" that enabled both countries to "probe issues of common interest and set new visions for the search of efficient and practical solutions in the framework of a new approach."

Talks between Sahel and his Algerian counterpart Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni are expected to focus, in addition to the Sahara dispute, on the two countries' borders, shut down unilaterally in August 1994 by Algerian authorities in protest against Morocco's decision to impose visa on its nationals. This move came after the involvement of two Algerian nationals in a terrorist attack against a hotel in Marrakech in which two Spanish tourists died.

El Mostafa Sahel said he would convey to Algeria's President "the high esteem and the sincere friendship (Morocco's) King Mohammed VI bears to Algeria, its President, Government and people."

Talks are also expected to focus on the fight against terrorism as evidenced by the Moroccan minister's participation in the inauguration, Tuesday afternoon, of a new DNA laboratory, the first of the kind in Africa and the Arab World, according to Algerian authorities.

Previous Stories:
  New family visit exchange between Southern Morocco and Tindouf camps (Algeria)   (7/17/2004)
  Settling Sahara conflict requires frank dialogue between Rabat and Algiers, Minister   (7/16/2004)
  Morocco ready to negotiate Sahara issue if its sovereignty is respected, PM   (7/9/2004)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search