Morocco's return to pan-African organization will be warmly welcomed, Cote D'Ivoire diplomat
Morocco-Cote D'Ivoire, Politics, 5/29/1999

Morocco's return to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) will be warmly welcomed by Africans, Cote d'Ivoire's (Ivory Coast) ambassador to Morocco, Daouda Diabate, said.

Diabate, who lauded Morocco's actions in favor of Africa, told Moroccan Al-Mounaataf daily that, "Morocco's return to the OAU will be warmly welcomed by Africans."

Morocco quit the OAU during the 1984 African summit to protest the illegal admission of the Sahrawi Republic (SADR), self-proclaimed by the Polisario.

Several countries have been pressing the pan-African body to exclude the SADR.

During the 1998 OAU summit of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), and during the OAU ministerial meeting, held last March in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Senegal and several other nations banded together to request the expulsion of the Sadr.

The Cote d'Ivoire diplomat said his country refused to recognize the Sahrawi republic, and, "We remained faithful to our friendship with Morocco," he said.

He recalled that Abidjan's position was renewed during the latest visit that the Cote D'Ivoire prime minister paid to Morocco.

The diplomat, who highlighted the excellent political ties binding Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire, deplored that bilateral trade and economic exchanges remain short of the two sides' expectations.

He underlined that the visit that Moroccan Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, will pay to Cote d'Ivoire, will not fail to open new horizons for the development of bilateral cooperation.

Youssoufi will visit Cote d'Ivoire part of a seven-day African tour that he starts this Saturday. Besides Cote d'Ivoire he will go to Senegal, Guinea, Gabon and Burkina Faso.

The tour will be crowned by the signing of several cooperation accords and conventions in the fields of investments, fisheries, trade and agriculture.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire sign cooperation accord in geology and oil prospecting   (4/5/1999)
  Moroccan Businessmen in Abidjan in November   (10/15/1998)
  Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire to boost trade exchange   (9/24/1998)

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

Search