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Morocco urged Algeria to give an official answer to the royal initiative, made public by King Mohammed VI in his Green March speech, says MAP news agency quoting a communiqué issued Monday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
This reaction came after Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita met on November the 26th with the ambassador of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria in Rabat.
During this meeting, Bourita announced that the Kingdom remains «open and optimistic» about the future of relations with Algeria, all while demanding the neighboring country to «make known, officially, its reaction towards the Royal Initiative for the establishment of a bilateral political mechanism for dialogue and consultation».
It was also an opportunity for the minister to address the recent proposal suggested by Algeria. In fact, the same communiqué indicates that Rabat «took note» of the letter sent on November the 23rd by the Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union. The Latter informed the country about the Arab Maghreb Union meeting Algeria wants to hold to revive the regional organization.
The Arab Maghreb Union meeting is unrelated to the royal initiative
In this regard, Bourita stressed that the «Algerian request is unrelated to the Royal Initiative». For Rabat, discussing the royal suggestion must be «purely bilateral, while the Algerian approach is part of the relaunch of regional edifice».
«Morocco has no objection in principle to holding a meeting of AMU Council of Foreign ministers. Nevertheless, Morocco can only doubt that this 35th ministerial meeting can achieve tangible results, different from the previous one (34th), in the absence of good preparation and a responsible direct dialogue between two AMU member States».
While Morocco is still waiting for Algeria’s response, Mauritania rushed into commenting on the Algerian proposal. During the weekend, and after Algeria announced that it wants to convene a meeting of the Union’s Foreign Affairs Ministers Council, the Mauritanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a communiqué stressing that the country is ready to host the event.
«The Arab Maghreb Union is a framework created to strengthen fraternity in the region and a tool that can be used to improve social and economic cooperation between the neighboring countries», wrote the Mauritanian Foreign Ministry.
For the record, after King Mohammed VI announced that Morocco is ready to create «a political mechanism for dialogue and consultation» with Algeria, officials in the neighboring country did not reply officially to the suggestion. Only unofficial reactions were at the heart of the last couple of weeks.
