Moroccan king's visit to jordan to spur cooperation, fm

The official visit of King Mohammed VI to Jordan will give a new impetus to Morocco's cooperation with this Arab state, Moroccan foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa, said.

The visit seeks to reinforce cooperation between Rabat and Amman and to coordinate stances regarding the situation in the Middle East, Benaissa told MAP news agency.

Morocco and Jordan share the same orientations and are attached to the same conditions likely to secure success to the projected international conference on peace in the Middle East, he said.

The Moroccan foreign minister said King Mohammed VI and King Abdallah instructed their respective governments to materialize cooperation accords already concluded between the two nations.

Morocco and Jordan are bound, inter alia, by a free trade accord signed in 1998. Their cooperation is managed by a high joint commission that meets regularly and alternately in Morocco and in Jordan.

The two states joined together last year with Egypt and Tunisia to sign a declaration, named the Agadir Declaration, on the creation of a free trade area among the four nations. The area, open to other Arab states, is seen as a prelude to the long-dreamed-of Arab single market.