King Mohammed receives speaker of French senate

Morocco's King Mohammed VI received Wednesday evening at the royal palace in Rabat Speaker of the French Senate, Christian Poncelet.

The audience was attended by director of the royal office, Mohamed Rochdi Chraibi.

Poncelet who is visiting Morocco to take part in a colloquium on parliamentary diplomacy, sponsored by the Chamber of Advisors (upper house of the Moroccan parliament) and the French Senate, also held a work session with the Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi.

During the work session that was attended by the speakers of the two chambers of the Moroccan parliament and the minister in charge of relations with the parliament, the two men underlined the increasingly important role played by parliamentary diplomacy in rooting a culture of dialogue, cooperation and openness.

They also underscored the part national parliaments can play in foreign relations and how they can contribute to the success of official diplomacy.

Poncelet later on conferred with Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, on bilateral cooperation in the legislative realm as well as on the situation prevailing in the Middle East and Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.