Diplomats in Rabat told Arab media outlets that Morocco wants to prevent Washington pressure to move toward normalization with Israel
Pampeo and Moroccan Foreign Minister Burta // Photo: AFP
A meeting that was expected to take place between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Morocco's King Muhammad VI was canceled, the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al Awest reported on Friday.
Diplomats in Rabat told the newspaper that the cancellation of the meeting was because Pompeo wanted to put pressure on the government to move toward normalization with Israel. However, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry did not explain the non-existence of the meeting.
According to information provided by "a-Sharq al-Awsat", Pumao arrived in Rabat with a request for Morocco to renew relations with Israel to the level they were in 1994, when diplomatic representatives were opened in Tel Aviv and Rabat. However, Barbat believes that the current situation is completely different from the one in 1994.
It was also reported that Barbat was very suspicious of Pompeo's meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Lisbon before he arrived in Rabat. US Foreign Office officials have previously stated that the United States considers Morocco a partner in achieving its goals in the region, including normalizing relations between Arab countries and Israel.
Pompeo was reportedly satisfied with a meeting in Rabat with Moroccan Prime Minister Saad al-Din al-Uthmani, who was in the presence of the Minister of Human Rights and liaison with Parliament Mustafa al-Ramid, and Commissioner of the United States Embassy in David Green. The secretary of state also met with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Burita and Abdel Lattif al-Hamushi, Director General of National Security and Internal Intelligence.
As we recall, this morning it was published in Israel Today that alongside the efforts of Netanyahu and his emissaries to bring Israel-Morocco relations up to normalization, El Al is working to open a direct airline to Casablanca. According to sources who spoke to "Israel Today", at the beginning of last July, the CEO of El Al visited Gonen Ussishkin and his two deputies in Morocco.
On Wednesday, during Netanyahu's meeting in Lisbon with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Netanyahu reportedly raised the possibility of upgrading Israel's economic relations with Morocco. The initiative, in the context of Washington and Jerusalem's efforts, should promote the issue of normalizing Israeli relations with select Arab states, including Morocco.