National
Moroccan Ambassador reported to be returning to Madrid
By m.p.
Jan 6, 2008 - 9:11 PM

The Moroccan ambassador to Spain is to return to Madrid, according to a report in Al Masae, the largest-selling newspaper in Morocco, this weekend. The paper says Ambassador Omar Azziman, who was recalled for ‘consultations’ prior to an announced visit by the Spanish King and Queen to the two Spanish North African enclaves last November, will return to Madrid during this week. Al Masae quotes diplomatic sources in Morocco, and says there will be no preconditions to the Ambassador’s return.

The news, if indeed it’s confirmed to be true, comes after a visit to Morocco last week by the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos. He met his Moroccan counterpart, Taib Fassi Fihri, in Rabat last Thursday, and delivered a personal letter of friendship from Spain’s Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI. The letter spoke of the Prime Minister’s hopes of maintaining and continuing the good relations between the two countries.

King Mohamed VI issued an official statement on the second day of the royal visit to Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco considers as occupied territory, condemning it as ‘counter-productive.’ He said it could put in danger how relations evolve between the two countries.

It was the first official visit by the Spanish royals to the two autonomous cities.