Morocco FM to visit Palestine for the first time

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco Nasser Bourita addresses during the Ministerial Conference for an African Agenda on Migration in Rabat, Morocco on 9 January, 2018 [Jalal Morchidi/Anadolu Agency]

Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita will visit Palestine next week, the first official visit of its kind for the minister.

Invited by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Bourita will meet with the president and members of the Palestinian cabinet where discussions will be held on a variety of issues including the topic of Palestinian statehood.

Bourita is also expected to visit Jerusalem during his trip next week which is seen as part and parcel of Morocco’s historical connection to the region under the instruction and supervision of King Mohammed VI who is the Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee.

Read: Former minister calls for Morocco to deal with protests ‘democratically’

Bourita’s visit comes a few months after US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel which will entail moving the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Trump’s decision was condemned by King Mohammed VI who denounced the decision as a significant threat to peace negotiations in a letter sent to the US leader.

Despite international condemnation, plans are in place to open an interim embassy in Jerusalem in May in time for the 70th anniversary of Israel’s “independence”, a day when Palestinians remember the Nakba.

According to the Trump administration, a permanent US embassy based in Jerusalem is set to open in 2019.

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