Morocco renews decry of Israeli invasion

Morocco on Friday renewed its denunciation of the Israeli invasion of the Palestinian territories and of the siege imposed on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

The stance was voiced by Moroccan foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa, in Cairo, where he attends an extraordinary session of the Arab League Council on the Israeli military escalation in the Palestinian territories.

"We expect the session to activate the resolutions of the Arab Summit, held last week in Beirut, particularly the Arab peace initiative," said Benaissa.

Benaissa also touched on the latest speech made by US President George W. Bush, saying the speech marked "a turning point" and "a step forward" and included "positive points" regarding the explosive situation in the Palestinian territories, the massacres and the humiliation to which the Palestinian people are prey.

He voiced hope that the American diplomacy would act to materialize as soon as possible the positive ideas contained in Bush's speech, especially the Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian areas and the lifting of the siege imposed on President Arafat.

The Arab peace initiative adopted at the Beirut Summit is the best realistic and accepted alternative to the situation of war and of destruction, he said.

The initiative, proposed by Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah Ibn Abdelaziz, offers Israel normal relations with Arab countries in exchange of an Israeli withdrawal from all territories occupied since 1967.