Media welcomes Algeria's decision to lift visa requirements for Moroccans
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 4/5/2005

The Moroccan media on Monday welcomed the announcement by Algeria's President Abdel Aziz Butaflika to waive visa requirements for Moroccan nationals, a move that was described by a newspaper as the beginning of the normalization process between the two states

"The unfreezing is being materialized," writes "Aujourd'hui Le Maroc" daily deeming it's "better late than never."

The Algerian decision comes a week after the "historic" meeting between Moroccan King Mohammed VI and Algeria's Butaflika in Algiers on the sidelines of the recent Arab Summit.

Algerian president's decision was announced during a telephone call to King Mohammed VI on Saturday.

Morocco "greeted" this "important decision" which comes in response to the one made by Rabat last July 30 when the monarch announced the lifting of visa requirements for Algerian nationals.

Butaflika's move is described in Rabat as a "new milestone in bringing closer the two brotherly peoples and reflects the will of the two neighboring countries to deepen and develop their bilateral relations based on a mutual confidence and joint action." "L'Economiste" daily deems that Butaflika's decision paves the way for the reopening of the borders that were shut in 1994 following a terrorist attack on a hotel in Marrakech in which two Spanish tourists died. Morocco blamed Algerian radical Islamists for this attack.

Echoing it, "Liberation" daily describes as an "obvious need" dialogue between Rabat and Algiers to settle pending issues, while "Al Alam" newspaper writes that "our Algerian brothers have finally recognized the legitimacy of the initiative taken by HM the King to lift entry visa for Algerians, as an act of sovereignty." "Attajdid" daily deems that Butaflika's decision "ushers a new era in Moroccan-Algerian relations" and a confirms the previsions that the reopening of the borders is "only a matter of time."

Previous Stories:
  Solving Sahara issue is in Algeria's interest, former UN representative   (4/1/2005)
  International community convinced of need to reach negotiated political solution for Sahara, USFP party   (4/1/2005)
  Deportation of Sahrawi children to Cuba by 'Polisario' denounced   (3/30/2005)

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