RABAT, Feb. 28- HM King
Mohammed VI of Morocco on Saturday received a phone call from President
Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire who informed him of his decision to send a
"high level" delegation to Morocco.
The monarch received this call while on a visit in Gabon, part of a
three-nation African tour including Burkina Faso and Senegal.
A communiqué from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
said: "as part of the strong and traditional relations that have always
united the two brotherly peoples, the Ivorian President informed the
sovereign of his decision to dispatch a high-level delegation to HM the
King" at the end of the monarch's African tour.
A diplomatic row has erupted these past weeks between the two countries’
governments following Morocco's decision to recall its Ambassador to Cote
d'Ivoire in reaction to the Ivorian presidency 's denial that it had asked
HM King Mohammed VI to exert "mediation efforts" to help resolve the
crisis in the West African country.
Two weeks ago, a delegation, led by President Laurent Gbagbo's envoy
Sangare Abou Drahamane, first deputy chairman of the ruling popular front party
, was received in Casablanca by HM the king.
In a statement to the press, Sangare said his country was hoping for an
involvement of Morocco in the mediation efforts, currently carried out by
South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Following this denial, The Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a
communiqué it was "astonished" at the reaction of the Ivorian presidency
and noted that it was at the request of Ivorian authorities who asked "with
insistence" that an audience was granted by the monarch to the delegation
which, accompanied by the Ambassador of Cote d'Ivoire, called on "HM the
king to get personally involved" in the settlement of the crisis.
Therefore, Morocco has decided to recall its ambassador to Ivory Coast
while waiting for "appropriate explanations" from the Ivorian authorities,"
the communiqué said.
A press release from the same department had earlier said at the end of
the audience, that "HM the king reiterated at the meeting the particular
attention Morocco grants to stability and peace in Côte d'Ivoire, the
unity of its people and reconciliation between different parties."
Morocco dispatched last May a contingent of some 700 soldiers to
contribute to efforts by the international community to stop the bloodshed
in the war-torn West African country, despite a French-brokered peace deal
reached in 2003.
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