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King Mohammed VI, President Obama Reaffirm Mutually Beneficial US-Morocco Alliance
In their meeting Friday, Nov. 22, 2013 at the White House in Washington, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and President Barack Obama said, “Today’s meeting demonstrates that the interests of the United States and Morocco continue to converge, and that this historic partnership, which began in the 18th century, continues to thrive well into the 21th century.” The White House, MAP
* At their meeting in the White House, President Obama commended King Mohammed VI’s strong leadership in deepening democracy, economic growth and human development in Morocco. The two leaders reaffirmed the US-Morocco strategic partnership, and also the long-held US position that “Morocco’s autonomy plan [for Western Sahara] is serious, realistic, and credible, and represents a potential approach that could satisfy the aspirations of the people in the Western Sahara to run their own affairs in peace and dignity.” *
* Click here for full US-Morocco Joint Statement *
MACP (Washington, DC, November 22, 2013) – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and US President Barack Obama met today to discuss a broad range of critical issues and common interests in the Middle East and Africa. According to the joint statement issued afterwards, “Today’s meeting demonstrates that the interests of the United States and Morocco continue to converge, and that this historic partnership, which began in the 18th century, continues to thrive well into the 21th century.”
The two leaders “reaffirmed the strong and mutually beneficial partnership and strategic alliance between the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco,” emphasizing “shared values, mutual trust, common interests, and strong friendship.”
President Obama commended the King’s strong leadership in deepening democracy, economic growth and human development in Morocco, and on Morocco’s asylum and immigration reform initiative.
The two leaders also reaffirmed the long-held US position that “Morocco’s autonomy plan [for Western Sahara] is serious, realistic, and credible, and that it represents a potential approach that could satisfy the aspirations of the people in the Western Sahara to run their own affairs in peace and dignity.”
Both leaders stressed Morocco’s importance as a platform for investment in Africa and pledged to continue their efforts to promote economic growth, human development and stability in the region.
And they pledged to enhance counter-terrorism and non-proliferation cooperation, as well as efforts to “bolster democratic criminal justice institutions and to counter the threat of violent extremism in the region.”
“Morocco and the US have worked together successfully for centuries to advance peace, progress and stability,” said former US Ambassador to Morocco, Edward M. Gabriel.
“Strengthening that relationship, as King Mohammed VI and President Obama did today, is even more essential now, when Africa and the Middle East are threatened by extremism and terrorism.”
* Click here for Joint Statement.
* For details on US-Morocco partnership & cooperation, click here for Fact Sheet from White House.
* For history of US-Morocco relations, click for “US & Morocco Share Long History of Friendship.”
https://moroccoonthemove.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/FS_US-MoroccanAlliance18January2013.pdf
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[…] end of November saw an extraordinary uptick in the visibility of the US-Morocco relationship. King Mohammed VI met with President Obama on Friday, November 22, and the Moroccan delegation that arrived earlier that week had a full […]