King receives Ivorian minister for African affairs

Morocco's King Mohammed VI received, Monday in the Royal Palace in Tetuan, Ivorian minister for African integration, Mel EG Theodore, who arrived Sunday on a visit to Morocco.

The Ivorian minister handed to the king a message from president Laurent Gbabgo.

Theodore told the press Sunday his visit is an opportunity to strengthen friendship relations with Morocco and to evoke with Moroccan officials the situation in his country.

Last May, Morocco dispatched a contingent to contribute to efforts by the international community "to put an end to the bloodshed in this African nation."

In a message addressed by king Mohammed VI to the contingent, he said they will "help enhance prospects for dialogue and national reconciliation and foster the secure, stable and peaceful environment needed for the reconstruction of this country, to which we are bound by strong, time-honoured ties of African brotherhood."

At the end of the 4th meeting of the two countries' joint cooperation Commission in March, the government of Cote d'Ivoire lauded Morocco's contribution to peace-keeping forces in Africa and praised the King's initiative to restore peace and mutual confidence among member countries of the Mano River.

It also praised Morocco's decision to cancel the debt owed to Morocco by the least advanced African countries, and to suppress tariff barriers to allow their basic products access to the Moroccan market.