King Mohammed, officials meets Spanish socialist leader

Morocco's King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Prince Moulay Rachid, received here Tuesday secretary general of the Spanish labor socialist party (PSOE), Jose Rodriguez Zapatero.

Zapatero was accompanied by Ms Jimenez Trinidad, advisor to the PSOE secretary general in charge of the party's international relations and Spain's ambassador to Morocco, Fernando Arias Salgado.

Moroccan foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa also attended the meeting.

Meantime, means to create a climate favoring dialogue and entente between Morocco and Spain were probed Monday at a meeting between Moroccan Premier, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, and visiting secretary general of the Spanish labor socialist party (PSOE), Jose Rodriguez Zapatero.

The Spanish leader told the press after the meeting that the talks were an opportunity to stress the need for Madrid and Rabat to work together to defuse the present tension prevailing over their relations.

Zapatero called for restoring cooperation in all fields to serve the two neighbor nations' interests. He voiced confidence that Morocco and Spain are able to dissipate any misunderstanding through the resumption of dialogue and cooperation.

Zapatero also touched on the Moroccan Sahara issue, underlining the need to give the United Nations a chance to re-launch dialogue between the parties concerned with a view to finding an agreement.