Phone talks between Tunisia's Ben Ali and King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan

Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali on Wednesday talked on the phone with King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan on ways to consolidate further the privileged relations binding the two countries, reported the Tunisian news agency, TAP.

The two heads of state emphasized the shared desire to continue consultations over issues of mutual concern and to promote the fruitful cooperation existing between the two countries to meet the two brotherly peoples' expectations to enhance the ties of solidarity and complementarity and to give a new momentum to the edification process of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).

King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan, who was proclaimed king of Morocco on Friday a few hours after the demise of his father, King Hassan II, voiced gratitude for the warm feelings and sympathy expressed by Tunisia following the death of the late Moroccan sovereign. President Ben Ali attended last Sunday in Rabat the funeral ceremony of the late King Hassan II.