Spanish foreign minister to visit Morocco next week

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique is expected to visit Morocco next week, diplomatic sources in Madrid said.

The Spanish foreign minister will confer with Moroccan peer, Mohamed Benaissa, on issues of common concern, according to the source.

Pique was part of the delegation who accompanied Spanish premier, Jose Maria Aznar, in his official visit to Morocco early May.

Commenting Pique's visit, Spanish minister of agriculture, fisheries and food, Arias Canete, hoped that negotiations on fisheries between Morocco and the European Union would move forward. He said at a press conference Saturday that if technical talks start, hopefully a positive result will be reached in the course of this year.

Morocco refused last November to renew a fisheries agreement with the European Union and called for a new form of partnership.