Mohammed VI renews call for re-opening of borders with Algeria

Tanger -MAP - King Mohammed VI of Morocco Saturday pleaded for the re-opening of his country's land borders with Algeria and called for an all round normalization of relations between Rabat and Algiers.

The land borders between the two countries had been closed since 1994, following a terrorist attack in Marrakech (South Morocco), in which Spanish tourists were killed and for which the Moroccan authorities had blamed Algerian secret services.

'We want the beginning of a new dynamic open to the settlement of all outstanding issues as a prelude to a full normalization of bilateral relations (...), including the reopening of land borders,' said Mohammed VI in a speech to the nation on the occasion of the feast of the throne, celebrated Saturday in Morocco.

'This excludes any stigma or inaction inconsistent with good neighbourly ties, the need for North African integration and the expectations of the international community and of our regional area,' he added.