The North Africa Post
Mauritania is looking to Morocco as an economic and security ally in a region plagued by instability and closedborders.
After a political and diplomatic rapprochement that ended years of aloofness sowed by the previous Mauritanian administration, Morocco and Mauritania now look forward to fostering security cooperation.
Two high-level delegations of Mauritanian security and military officials paid a visit to Rabat last during which they raised with Moroccan counterparts the means to further secure the Moroccan-Mauritanian border crossing and help Mauritania deal with transferred threats emanating from its long borders with Algeria and Mali where terrorist groups operate.
The border crossing of Guerguarat, a key lifeline for Mauritanian supply, has been hindered by the Polisario militias on multiple occasions. The separatist group has often violated the UN-brokered ceasefire agreements and set up checks that disrupted the supply of Mauritanian market.
The Polisario has also engaged in all sorts of trafficking in connivance with criminal and terrorist networks, a fact that pushes Mauritanian to look to Morocco as an ally to counter the violations of the Algerian-backed separatists.
The visit by the Mauritanian delegation to Morocco also comes after Mauritania banned trading in embezzled food-stuff that was supposed to reach the population held against their will in Tindouf.
The Mauritanian security delegation also sought exchange of expertise with Morocco’s security and intelligence agencies on countering-terrorism, le360.ma reported. The Mauritanian press welcomed the visit as a sign of excellent relations between two neighbors after years of silence.
POSTED BY NORTH AFRICA POST
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