Speaker of Spanish congress carries on talks in Morocco
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 11/8/1999

The visiting speaker of the Spanish Congress of deputies (lower house), Federico Trillo Sijueroa, carried on talks with cabinet members by a meeting in Marrakesh on Saturday with Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mohamed Benaissa.

Talks covered means to consolidate cooperation between the two Mediterranean countries as well as bilateral relations in the Euro-Mediterranean frame.

After Benaissa surveyed Morocco's new policy, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, especially in matters of development, the Spanish official voiced his country's determination to back Morocco's development efforts and to contribute to the development projects launched in the Northern provinces during the recent royal tour in the region.

The two sides exchanged viewpoints on the latest developments of the U.N settlement on the Sahara.

The plan provides for the holding of a referendum in the Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords. The referendum will determine whether these provinces remain part of Morocco or become independent as claimed by the separatist polisario movement.

At an earlier meeting held in Rabat with Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi, focus was laid on the issue of fisheries, and Morocco reaffirmed that it will not renew the fisheries accord binding it to the European Union when it expires on November 30, 1999.

Youssoufi told Sijueroa --who started a visit to Morocco on Friday heading a delegation of MPs from the various parliamentary groups-- that Morocco was willing to discuss with the union new cooperation forms and proposals, in the frame of a new partnership project to preserve Morocco's sea resources.

The same stand was expressed by Moroccan Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Fisheries Habib Malki at a similar meeting with the speaker of the Spanish Congress.

Previous Stories:
  Spanish Congress speaker in Morocco   (11/3/1999)
  Spain authorizes entry of 1,000 Moroccan seasonal workers   (11/1/1999)
  Spanish ambassador calls for mutually-profitable partnership with Morocco   (10/28/1999)

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