African Union does need Morocco, former Senegalese premier says

Former Senegalese Premier, Mustapha Niasse, stressed the need for Africa to seek and implement a solution to the question of Morocco's participation in the activities of the African Union, through the recovery by Morocco of its seat within the continental organization.

The African Union does need Morocco, wrote Niasse in a story published this week by Paris-based weekly Jeune Afrique L'Intelligent weekly.

He stated that the Organization of African Unity (OAU)-of which Morocco is one of the founder-members- and its institutions have benefited for long years from the contributions of its member states, including Morocco which has played an internationally-recognized role in the African decolonization process that helped most sub-Saharan countries gain sovereignty.

Touching on the recent moves by the United nations to settle the Sahara issue, Niasse expressed confidence that wisdom and the past experiences in the management and settlement of territorial, political or armed conflicts open concrete and positive prospects towards a settlement. In north Africa, he wrote, Morocco is progressively organizing the management of relations of peace and cooperation with the countries of the region. It has also a planned cooperation with the countries of the Machrek, the Middle East and the Gulf. The Kingdom's political choices, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, following the path inherited from his late father, favor the consolidation of the networks of exchanges and consultation with African countries, the forler Senegalese premier wrote, mentioning Morocco's multi-faceted cooperation with several African countries.

This cooperation, he stated, covers mainly the fields of modern agriculture, irrigation, hydraulic works, town planning, education, training, air transport, port and airport infrastructure and others. Niasse also insisted that means to give a political content to such exchanges and to such a south-south cooperation are within reach.