Moroccan-French strategic partnership tops bilateral summit talks in rabat

President Jacques Chirac of France on Monday paid a short visit to Morocco, during which he held tete-a-tete talks with King Mohammed VI in Casablanca.

Talks focused on Moroccan-French relations, cooperation between Morocco and the European Union and regional and international current issues, the spokesman for the Moroccan foreign affairs and cooperation department told MAP news agency.

"During this visit of consultation and friendship President Jacques Chirac paid to Morocco at the invitation of King Mohammed VI, the king and the French President held tete-a-tete talks during which they lauded the level and quality of bilateral relations," the spokesman said.

King Mohammed VI and President Chirac studied means to deepen these relations part of a distinguished strategic partnership to serve the two nations' societies and economies, the source said, adding the two heads of state tackled relations between Morocco and the European Union as well as the evolution of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.

The king and the French head of state surveyed current issues of common concern, particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Iraq crisis and the situation in Africa.

The French President was seen off at the Casablanca airport by King Mohammed VI at the end of the visit that was scheduled before the ongoing fasting month of Ramadan.