afrol News, 3 December - While on a short visit in Morocco, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Kingdom is now receiving a doubled military aid from the US due to the joint war against terrorism. US economic aid is to increase even more.

- We'll be increasing our economic assistance four-fold over the next several years, Mr Powell told the press at the International Airport of Marrakech, Morocco, today. "We'll be doubling the support that we provide to military efforts," he added.

The US diplomat said this was a consequence of the growing US-Moroccan friendship and Morocco's cooperation in the fight against terrorism. "We want to be partners in this effort and our support for Morocco as it fights terrorism and undertakes reform has increased dramatically," said Mr Powell.

He also commented the ongoing negotiations on a controversial free trade agreement. "We're also negotiating a Free Trade Agreement and the Moroccan delegation will be heading to the United States tonight to continue those discussions," said Mr Powell. "And, hopefully, we will have a Free Trade Agreement by the end of the year."

- In these free trade discussions we will be very sensitive to the particular situation that exists here in Morocco as a basically a rural society and concerned about the effects of free trade on the agricultural sector, he added.

But Mr Powell said the US government was "absolutely confident that the Free Trade Agreement will provide abundant, promising new opportunities for Moroccans, as well as for Americans, and that the Free Trade Agreement will benefit all sectors of Moroccan society." A US-Moroccan Free Trade Agreement however may jeopardise Morocco's ties with its main trade partner, the European Union.

Mr Powell further congratulated Moroccan King Mohammed VI on what he called "bold political reforms." He especially mentioned "successful elections at the parliamentary level and at the regional level, elections of the first female mayor, and bold reforms proposed for the family code."

Contrary to expectations, Mr Powell doesn't seem to have touched the deteriorating situation of the Moroccan press with King Mohammed VI. Freedom of expression groups had urged Mr Powell to speak up for the many jailed journalists in the Kingdom.

The US diplomat also had discussed the Western Sahara Peace process with the King. Mr Powell was expected to put pressure on Mohammed VI to accept the so-called Baker peace plan. "We look to the parties to find a political solution through negotiations," Mr Powell commented in Marrakech.

- We support Secretary Jim Baker's efforts to assist the parties in finding a solution and, of course, the United States would not be interested in imposing a solution on the parties, he added. "The parties have to find the right answer through negotiations on the basis of the Baker Plan."

Asked by a Moroccan journalist whether it was time to start considering the Polisario - the Western Sahara independence movement - as a terrorist organisation, Mr Powell again said the "focus right now should be on responses to the Baker Plan."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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