Raja Casablanca's Player, Karkouri, Signs for Swiss Club

King Mohammed VI received on Friday US assistant secretary for the Middle East and North Africa, Edward Walker. The meeting was attended by assistant under-secretary of state for the Middle east, Ronald Naumann, US ambassador to Morocco, Edward Gabriel, Morocco's delegate to the United Nations in New York, Ahmed Snoussi and minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa. The US official who paid on Friday and Saturday a visit to Morocco, last leg of a tour that led him to Tunisia and Algeria, also met Moroccan premier, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, over latest developments in the middle east peace process and over the need for all sides to abide by the peace accords they have signed and speed up the ongoing process. Talks also underscored Morocco's key role in activating the peace process and the need to consolidate Morocco-US relations. Bilateral relations and the situation in the Arab Maghreb were also reviewed at a meeting between Walker and minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa. It was Walker's first visit to the region since he was appointed last January to the position in replacement of Martin Indyk who took over as ambassador to Israel.

Moroccan journalists on solidarity visit to Iraq

A group of Moroccan journalists is paying a solidarity visit to Iraq where they will hand to colleagues at the Iraqi news agency "INA" a batch of computers and printers. The trip is sponsored by the union of Moroccan journalists (SNPM) in a first initiative to support the Iraqi media. The Moroccan journalists who will meet Iraqi colleagues will conduct investigations and write stories to be published in Morocco to denounce the "unfair embargo" enforced against Iraq and draw international attention to the plight of Iraqis. Several Moroccan institutions have co-financed the equipment purchase and the trip fares

Moroccan man could sue American government for arbitrary detention

Youssef Karroum, a 34-year old Moroccan, who was held for one week in a US prison as he was crossing the border at Blaine, State of Washington, for suspicions of connection to terrorist groups said he might sue the US administration for compensation. "It was the worst moment of my life," he told ABC TV channel. US border agents say their computer identified Karroum, who holds a Canadian passport and is living in Surrey (west Canada), as "armed and dangerous." They added that they found nitroglycerin particles in his car. Karroum was held as a material witness in the case of Ahmed Ressam, arrested in the State of Washington last December over suspicions of plotting terrorist acts in the USA. Eventually, the Moroccan unemployed electrician was cleared of all charges and further analyses found that his car did not contain any explosive particles. His wife, Laila, said her husband often crosses the US-Canadian borders for shopping. She added that he does not know Rassem. She said the couple bought the Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon car from the Canadian administration. Canadian authorities confirmed that the car belonged to the agriculture department which used it to carry nitrate-based fertilizers. Karroum's attorney confirmed that his client was cleared of all charges and said his arrest was the result of the hysteria resulting from the arrest of Ressam and other persons in Canada and the USA and of the investigation of terrorist plans.

Moroccan-Egyptian maritime transport commission meets in Cairo

The Moroccan-Egyptian joint maritime transport commission is meeting here this Feb.5-6 to examine cooperation between the two countries in maritime transports, mainly a project to start a sea line. A Moroccan delegation of experts, headed by transport minister, Mustapha Mansouri, travelled to Egypt on Friday to attend the session. The specialized commission is one of the bodies of the higher joint commission that meets annually alternately in Morocco and Egypt under the chairmanship of the two countries' heads of state. The coming session will be held in Cairo under the chairmanship of president Hosni Mubarak and King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

Youssoufi in Bangkok UNCTAD conference

Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi will be visiting Thailand as of Feb. 17 to lead the Moroccan delegation to UNCTAD works. Youssoufi will take the floor before the UNCTAD conference in Bangkok and hold side-meetings with his Thai peer and other heads of delegations. Morocco currently chairs the World Trade Organization's African group and the "77 " China" group.