Rabat – The United States aspires to further develop its “excellent” relations with Morocco, U.S. ambassador in Rabat Mr. Samuel L. Kaplan said.
“Morocco is a strategic ally with the United States”, Mr. Kaplan told MAP in an interview, adding that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Morocco falls within the scope of friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries.
Clinton “is coming here to see friends and to deepen that friendship”, he said.
“There is a good working relationship between Americans and Moroccans in the diplomatic area, in the business area and in the cultural area. Such a long-standing relationship has enriched itself over the years by the exchanges of Americans coming to Morocco and the Moroccans going to America,” Mr. Kaplan said.
He insisted that the American and Moroccan peoples admire each other and that the two countries “have a strong level of defense cooperation, a strong level of counter-terrorism cooperation, a strong level of law enforcement cooperation and a strong level of business relationships.”
On the democratic process in the Kingdom, Mr. Kaplan said the new Constitution is “a very forward-looking document. It is a document that emphasizes human rights in a very important way” and Morocco has made “very important steps forward.”
Regarding ongoing efforts to revitalize the Arab Maghreb Union, the ambassador said that the building of this bloc will be beneficial to all countries of the region, considering the huge economic and cultural opportunities it holds, and its countries’ contribution to counter-terrorism.
He voiced encouragement by ministerial visit exchanges between the Maghreb countries.
The ambassador also emphasized the need to open Moroccan-Algerian border.
“The border should open because it is a way of improving business climate,” he said.
Mr. Kaplan called for pursuing efforts towards opening the Moroccan-Algerian border, as well as for multiplying visits between the countries’ officials.
Speaking of the next round of informal talks on the Sahara, he voiced hope that they will be “more productive”, noting that “it is true that no great progresses were made in these talks so far”, but with good will “wonderful things” can be done.
