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The Palestinian government says Morocco will boycott the US-led Bahrain conference

The Palestinian government has said that Morocco will not attend the US-led conference, to be hosted by Bahrain. This announcement was made after a White House senior official told media that the Kingdom, alongside Egypt and Jordan, confirmed their attendance to the meeting, expected to unveil the economic portion of the «Deal of the Century».

The President of the State of Palestine and Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas. / Ph. DR
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On Wednesday, June 12, Palestinian government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said that Morocco is not attending the international conference that will be held in Bahrain in late June to unveil the economic portion of the United States’ Israeli Palestinian peace plan, also known as the «Deal of the Century».

«Contrary to what was said yesterday (Tuesday), the Palestinian government has been informed that our brothers in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Kingdom of Morocco and in the Arab Republic of Egypt have not confirmed their attendance to the Bahrain conference», Melhem stated.

The Palestinian official’s statement was a response to reports made public, Tuesday, by several news agencies and platforms. A White House senior official said, Tuesday, that «Egypt, Morocco and Jordan have informed the US that they will attend», the conference to be hosted by Manama».

Will Morocco attend the US-led Palestinian conference ? 

The reports were not confirmed by Morocco, which was visited in May by Donald Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner. The latter was touring the region to drum up support for the United States’ Palestinian-Israeli peace plan, a white house official previously said.

Contacted Tuesday by Yabiladi, a diplomatic source from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation couldn’t confirm reports on Rabat’s participation in Bahrain’s conference. The same source insisted that Morocco’s position on the conference was voiced by Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita during the weekend.

Indeed, Bourita commented, Saturday June 8, during a press briefing held while his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian was visiting Morocco, on Donald Trump’s senior advisor Jared kushner’s recent visit to Rabat.

On Wednesday, Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othamni was also unable to answer questions related to Morocco’s participation to the infamous conference. Asked by Turkish news agency Anadolu, he said that he is not aware of Morocco’s «participation» to the Bahrain conference.

«I came back from Geneva yesterday night and I know nothing about the topic», he said on the sidelines of a seminar held in Rabat.

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