Fruitful talks in day 1 of king Mohammed's visit to France

King Mohammed VI, on a state visit to France March 19-23, held on Monday two rounds of fruitful talks with president Jacques Chirac which were termed as "very confident and very warm" by the Elysee Spokeswoman Catherine Colonna.

The two heads of state had a private meeting for lunch before two-hour rounds of talks extended to delegations.

Colonna said meetings looked into bilateral cooperation, the Moroccan bid for the 2006 World Cup, Moroccan EU relations, the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, the Mideast peace-process and the Iraqi issue.

Moroccan-EU ties were examined in the light of the newly enforced association agreement with special emphasis on the agricultural and fishery aspects which ought not to be linked.

According to the spokeswoman, regional issues were covered including rapport between Morocco and neighboring countries.

As to the Euro-Med scheme, both sides agreed to the need to blow more life in the process and France suggested the holding before the end of the year in Marseille of a Euro-Med summit meeting.

Both sides welcomed resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks and voiced concern for uncertainty prevailing on the Syrian-Israeli track.

Of Iraq, Colonna said views converged adding president Chirac was worried by the humanitarian situation in Iraq and persisting obstacles in the disarmament process.