Foreign relations of Morocco

In 2007, Morocco adopted the Hassan II Fund for Development, which are measures that simplify procedures to make the process easier and more financially beneficial for foreign investors.

Morocco also was among the first Arab and Islamic states to denounce the September 11 attacks and declare solidarity with the American people in the war against terror.

In 1998, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, said that Morocco and the U.S. have "mutual concerns over transnational terrorism" as well as interests in "the effort to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction".

[8] In recognition of its support for the War on Terror, in June 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush designated Morocco as a major non-NATO ally.

During World War I and II, France had an urgent need for manpower, which led to the recruitment of tens of thousands of Moroccan men to work in factories, mines, and in the army.

At this time, Morocco signed major labour recruitment agreements with European countries, such as France, West Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

[13][14] There are significant ties with West African and Sahel countries and Morocco maintains good relationships with Senegal, Gabon and Burkina Faso.

The state of the relationships between the two neighboring countries has hindered bilateral collaboration and has left the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) project almost inactive.

[178] Morocco had been aligned with the United States during the Cold War, whereas Algeria kept a distance from the West, favouring the Soviet Union and later a non-aligned position.

Through the agreement with Mauritania, Morocco sought to tighten its control over the Western Sahara by denying the Polisario one more avenue for infiltrating guerrillas into the disputed territory.

[182] Relations between Morocco and Mauritania continued to improve through 1986, reflecting President Taya's pragmatic, if unstated, view that only a Moroccan victory over the Polisario would end the guerrilla war in the Western Sahara.

The territory—an area of wasteland and desert bordering the Atlantic Ocean between Mauritania and Morocco—is contested by Morocco and the Polisario (an independence movement based in the region of Tindouf, Algeria).

From 1904 until 1975, Spain occupied the entire territory, which is divided into a northern portion, the Saguia el-Hamra, and a southern two-thirds, known as Río de Oro.

Morocco subsequently built the Moroccan Wall, a network of fortified berms around the largest portion of Western Sahara and has since asserted administrative control over that territory.

At the Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in June 1981, King Hassan announced his willingness to hold a referendum in the Western Sahara.

Subsequent meetings of an OAU Implementation Committee proposed a cease-fire, a United Nations peacekeeping force, and an interim administration to assist with an OAU-UN-supervised referendum on the issue of independence or annexation.

Implementation of the settlement plan, which calls for a popular referendum among the Sahrawi natives of the territory to determine its final status (integration into Morocco or independence), has been repeatedly postponed because of differences between the parties.

Morocco however refused the plan, stating that it is no longer willing to accept a referendum that includes the possibility of independence, but that it is willing to discuss an autonomy-based solution.

[196] Following the re-organization of the U.S. federal government upon the 1787 Constitution, President George Washington wrote a now venerated letter to the Sultan Sidi Mohamed strengthening the ties between the two countries.

The United States legation (consulate) in Tangier is the first property the American government ever owned abroad,[197] and is the first (and only) National Historic Landmark on purely foreign soil.

Morocco was the first Arab state to condemn Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and sent troops to help defend Saudi Arabia.

In recognition of its support for the War on Terrorism, in June 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush designated Morocco as a major non-NATO ally.

Pakistan and Morocco enjoy friendly relationship based on deep religious and great human values commonly shared by both countries.

[231] The status includes the establishment of an EU-Morocco summit and a direct participation of Morocco in a number of EU ministerial councils and working group meetings.

[233] When De Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he was able to consolidate most of the initiatives taken under the Fourth Republic, but was only able to make progress by drawing up, once again, a new Constitution and finding a solution to the war in Algeria.

Relations with Morocco were very cordial during the reign of King Mohammed V, only to take a turn for the worse when the French secret service delivered Ben Barka to some Moroccan agents, who eventually killed him and the affair turned into a serious and personal diplomatic row between King Hassan II and General de Gaulle, which lasted until the exit of the latter from politics in 1969.

Giscard d'Estaing's presidency provided a more pronounced support for Morocco and relations reached their zenith leading to a type of partnership in the affairs of Africa.

The French-Moroccan intervention in Zaire was evidence of this partnership and President Giscard d'Estaing was in favour of Morocco's annexation of the Western Sahara.

The Moroccan military has been modernised and trained to be admitted within the USA-NATO forces to carry out regular exercises, as well as involving other NATO members in the fight against any terrorist threat in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Sahara regions.

Franco-Moroccan co-operation also extends to the African continent and both played a complementary role in helping to resolve the problems in the Congo, in Chad and in many other fields as well as in the economy and politics of the region.