Moroccan Foreign Minster, US envoy discuss relations post Israel normalization deal

Moroccan Foreign Minster Nasser Bourita discussed on Sunday relations with top US envoy David Schenker following Rabat’s normalizing its ties with Israel.

Schenker, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, said that the US was committed to deepening the relationship with Morocco.

Morocco was a strategic partner in achieving stability in the region, said the envoy, who is the highest-ranking US diplomat for North Africa and the Middle East.

Bourita said that Morocco agreed with Washington on many international issues.

The US official visited contested Western Sahara on Saturday, after Washington recognized Morocco’s sovereignty there in exchange for the deal with Israel.

Western Sahara is a disputed and divided former Spanish colony, mostly under Morocco’s control, where tensions with the pro-independence Polisario Front have simmered since the 1970s.

Last year Morocco joined the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in agreeing to normalize ties with Israel under US-brokered deals.

In return, US President Donald Trump fulfilled a decades-old Moroccan goal by backing its contested sovereignty over the barren but phosphate-rich region, which lies next to rich Atlantic fishing zones.

The US Embassy in Rabat called the trip by Schenker “a historic visit” as he is the first US official to visit the Western Sahara.