King Mohammed sends message to Sudanese president

President of Sudan Omar Hassan El Bashir received in Khartoum Sunday afternoon Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation who conveyed him a verbal message from King Mohammed VI.

The message deals with bilateral relations and means of promoting these relations in various realms, Benaissa told MAP at the end of the meeting.

He said he had also extended the Sudanese president an invitation from King Mohammed VI to pay an official visit to Morocco.

Talks with president El Bashir covered several issues of mutual concern and Morocco's adherence to the community of Sahel and Sahara States (COMESSA) as a full-fledged member during the 3rd COMESSA summit, opening this Monday in Khartoum, Benaissa said.

Benaissa expressed hope that Moroccan-Sudanese cooperation would be further consolidated and said the Moroccan private sector is eyeing with interest the Sudanese market mainly in agriculture and industrial fields.

Benaissa is part of the Moroccan delegation taking part in the summit of COMESSA, a political and economic grouping set up by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 1997 as a step towards wider African unity.

Besides Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria are also due to join the bloc, which musters so far the Central African Republic, Senegal, Zambia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Libya.