As announced Thursday, December 10, the Trump administration sent a notice to the Congress, Friday, about the $1 billion in sales of drones and precision-guided weapons to Morocco, Reuters said. The deal includes four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by privately-held General Atomics, and Hellfire, Paveway and JDAM precision-guided munitions made by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing, the same source added. This new development comes in the wake of the resumption of diplomatic
Head of Government Saadeddine El Othmani welcomed the US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara. It is «a historic victory and a consecration of the efforts of HM King Mohammed VI in the defense of the national cause», the secretary general of the Justice and Development party told MAP. President Donald Trump's decision «constitutes an important turning point insofar as it is the first time that a Western country has so explicitly recognized the Moroccan
On Friday, December 11, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio phoned his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, reports the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The talks focused on the «recent developments in Libyan political dialogue; Western Sahara; the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel and the peace process and the Morocco-Italy strategic partnership», the same source added. The last meeting between Bourita and Di Maio dates back to Wednesday
3,035 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Morocco during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of Covid-19 infections in the country to 394,564. 3,887 new recoveries were recorded during the same period, bringing the total number of recoveries to 349,821. 50 deaths were recorded between yesterday and today, bringing the total number of deaths to 6,542. 16 of these deaths were recorded in the Casablanca-Settat region, 6 in the Oriental, 6 in Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, 5 in
Reacting to the normalization agreement between Morocco and Israel, Moroccan Islamist association Al Adl Wa Al Ihssane (AWI) said on Friday that US President Donald Trump «refused to leave the White House without passing his shameful Zionist plan to drag Morocco into the normalization swamp». In a press release sent to Yabiladi, the Jamaa denounced the «condemnable» announcement of normalization with the «Zionist entity», which constitutes «an attack
Sacked in 2019 by US President Donald Trump, former National Security Advisor of the United States John Bolton criticized the White House’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. «Trump was wrong to abandon thirty years of US policy on Western Sahara just to score a fast foreign policy victory», he said on Friday, December 11. Trump was wrong to abandon thirty years of US policy on Western Sahara just to score a fast foreign policy victory. An
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Washington's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara is a «breach of international law». Quoted by Sputnik News, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov reminded media in his country that «there are relevant decisions and an international mission to hold a referendum in Western Sahara». «It is a unilateral decision that goes beyond international law and the UN Security Council
A senior Trump administration official confirmed on Thursday that the United States is considering investments worth up to $3 billion in Morocco over three years. According to the New York Times, talks between Rabat and Washington began in 2017 and addressed the promise of recognizing Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. Quoting two Moroccan officials informed of these talks, the newspaper wrote that the Moroccan
Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine took a new step on Thursday when a group of American experts formally recommended that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorize the vaccine. The agency will likely do so in a few days, prioritizing healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes to begin receiving the vaccine next week, the New York Times reported. The FDA's Vaccine Advisory Group, made up of independent scientific experts, infectious disease physicians and statisticians, had 17 of
Across the Arab world, the announcement of normalization of ties with Israel draws mixed reactions.