RABAT: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived in Rabat on Wednesday for a visit aimed at mending ties following a deep diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
Sanchez and a dozen ministers are set to sit down on Thursday with top members of the Moroccan government.
They are expected to sign a string of deals including on encouraging investment, Spanish government sources said, as well as discuss irregular migration.
Prior to his trip, Sanchez had spoken on the phone with King Mohammed VI who urged him to “consolidate the new stage of relations between Morocco and Spain,” according to a statement from the Spanish premier’s office.
Sanchez visited Morocco in April last year, drawing a line under a year-long diplomatic crisis that began easing after Madrid reversed decades of neutrality on the Western Sahara conflict to back Morocco’s position.
The crisis had begun in 2021 when Madrid allowed Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front which seeks independence for the territory of Western Sahara, to be treated for Covid-19 in a Spanish hospital.
Weeks later, more than 10,000 migrants surged into Spain’s tiny North African enclave of Ceuta as Moroccan border forces looked the other way, in an incident seen as seeking to punish Madrid.
In March last year, Madrid announced a “new stage” in relations and said it backed the North African kingdom’s plan for the Western Sahara of limited autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
King Mohammed has invited Sanchez for a higher profile state visit in future to “reinforce the positive dynamic” in their ties, according to a palace statement.
After resuming cooperation with the kingdom, Spain’s interior ministry reported that arrivals of irregular migrants on its territory from Morocco were down by a quarter last year compared to 2021.
Both countries faced criticism from rights groups after at least 23 migrants died during a mass attempt to enter Spain’s Melilla enclave on the North African coast in June 2022.
The Spanish-Morocco rapprochement comes as Moroccan politicians and media accuse France, a staunch ally of the kingdom, of “orchestrating” a European Parliament resolution critical of Morocco’s treatment of the press.
Morocco has also denied accusations of corruption involving European Parliament members.
Rabat is also considered an ally in the fight against extremism.
A Moroccan suspect is being held in connection with a machete attack on two Spanish churches in the southern town of Algeciras in January.
Spanish PM arrives in Morocco on visit to cement ties
https://arab.news/c72h3
Spanish PM arrives in Morocco on visit to cement ties
- Sanchez and a dozen ministers are set to sit down on Thursday with top members of the Moroccan government
- They are expected to sign a string of deals including on encouraging investment
Sudan PM heads to New York for UN talks
- Sudan’s army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said last week he was ready to work with Trump to resolve the conflict
PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s Prime Minister Kamil Idris left for New York on Saturday to meet the UN chief and other officials and discuss humanitarian access and a possible ceasefire, two government sources said.
The trip comes as fighting between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces, which erupted in April 2023, intensifies in southern Kordofan, raising fears of new atrocities similar to those reported in the city of El-Fasher in late October.
Reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions followed the RSF’s capture of the army’s last stronghold in the western
Darfur region.
A Sudanese government source said Idris was expected to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to “put an end to the worsening humanitarian crisis” in Sudan.
Idris’ adviser, Mohammed Abdel Qader, also said the talks would focus on “facilitating aid access” and reaffirm the government’s commitment to a roadmap handed over to the UN, including a “conditional ceasefire linked to the withdrawal of the RSF from areas and cities it occupies.”
Earlier this month, Guterres said the United Nations was preparing talks with both sides in Geneva, but did not specify a date.
Renewed hopes for diplomacy emerged last month when US President Donald Trump pledged to help end the conflict.
Sudan’s army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said last week he was ready to work with Trump to resolve the conflict.
The RSF says it supports the international ceasefire plan, but heavy fighting continues, notably in Kordofan.
Egypt, a key ally of Sudan’s army, warned on Thursday that escalating violence “directly affects Egyptian national security” and stressed that preserving Sudanese state institutions remains a “red line.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the new year offered a chance for a humanitarian truce in Sudan and urged external countries to use leverage.
“Ninety-nine percent of our focus is this humanitarian truce and achieving that as soon as possible,” Rubio told a news conference.
“And we think that the new year and the upcoming holidays are a great opportunity for both sides to agree to that, and we’re really pushing very hard in that regard,” he said.
Rubio voiced alarm at new reports that humanitarian convoys have been struck.
“What’s happening there is horrifying. It’s atrocious,” he said.
“One day, the story of what’s actually happened there is going to be known, and everyone involved is going to look bad,” he added.
“We’re hopeful that we can make some progress on this, but we know that in order to make progress on this, it will require outside actors to use their leverage,” Rubio said.
