Royal letters to speaker of U.S House of Representatives
Morocco-USA, Politics, 9/29/1999

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, Dennis Hastert, received on Tuesday two letters, one from the late King Hassan II and one from King Mohammed VI.

The letters were conveyed by Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mohamed Benaissa at a solemn ceremony at the Congress' headquarters, that was attended by several congressmen, US senior officials, diplomats, academics and other personalities.

The letter that King Hassan II was about to send to Dennis Hastert before he passed away was a reply to the Statement of Friendship issued last March by a group of 110 members of the US House of Representatives and Senate who set up an association that they called "Friends of Morocco in the United States Congress."

The late sovereign's letter highlights the unshakable attachment of both the United States and Morocco to the values of democracy, peace, prosperity, and progress.

It also expresses appreciation that the statement of friendship refers to the stability of Morocco and to its social and economic development and acknowledges Morocco as an emerging society, firmly anchored in pluralism, free enterprise and tolerance, as a modern country that remains attached to its heritage and tradition.

In the "statement of friendship," the 110 Republican and Democrat signatory congressmen had said that, "The continued maintenance of stability in the Maghreb region and its environs, depends in great measure on the capacity of Morocco to continue to function as a stable and free country for all its people, advocating modernity and progress while being respectful of its own culture and heritage."

"Morocco has repeatedly demonstrated its resolve to foster the advancement of justice, democracy and human rights nationally and through its role in the international community," the statement pointed out, adding that the two countries "continue to share common values of liberty, democracy and peace as well as common interests and goals in global security, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean region."

The late King Hassan II said in his letter that the statement of friendship clearly shows "the continuity and consistency of our adherence to these common fundamental choices," and constitutes not only another major milestone in Moroccan-American relations, but also "infuses a new breath in our strategic, political and economic partnership, for which our nations have so patiently striven throughout this century whenever freedom was in peril."

In the second letter addressed to the House of Representatives' speaker to convey his late father's message, King Mohammed VI renewed commitment to "follow the same path and the wise policy" of his late father. "This policy was aimed at reinforcing democracy, the respect of human rights, and the resort to dialogue and persuasion when dealing with international issues," King Mohammed VI said, adding, "It was also aimed at promoting rapprochement, understanding and cooperation between nations and peoples."

As to bilateral relations, King Mohammed VI pledged to "hold to the deep and solid friendship" characterizing Moroccan-US relations that were initiated in 1783 by King Mohammed III and President George Washington.

In an exchange of addresses during the ceremony, Benaissa said that the letter left by late King Hassan II was drafted on the same parchment and was bearing the same seal as the one addressed by King Mohammed III to President George Washington.

He also underlined that King Mohammed VI's letter is meant to renew to the members of the Congress and to the American people Morocco's attachment to the firm friendship characterizing bilateral relations.

Dennis Hastert, on his part, voiced determination to remain attached to these bilateral relations and to the interest granted to human dignity, to the promotion of democracy and to the consolidation of the cooperation existing between the two countries as well as to the relations being developed across North Africa.

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