Interior Minister, Spanish Peer Stress Need to Continue Counterterrorism Cooperation

Rabat - Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit and his Spanish peer Fernando Grande-Marlaska held, Thursday in Rabat, a working meeting during which they stressed the need to continue fostering the Moroccan-Spanish counterterrorism cooperation.

At this meeting, Laftit and Grande-Marlaska lauded, in particular, the close coordination between the security services, based on a sustained and confident sharing of intelligence and the organization of jointly and simultaneously coordinated operations, which allowed the dismantling of many terrorist cells, mainly those related to the recruitment and dispatching of terrorist fighters towards hot spots, said a joint statement issued at the end of this meeting. On this occasion, the two ministers stressed the need to continue the consolidation of this cooperation and to pool their efforts, bilaterally and regionally, to actively contribute to addressing the recrudescence of the terrorist threat both in the Mediterranean basin and the Sahel-Saharan region.

At this meeting, which was attended notably by Minister Delegate for the Interior Noureddine Boutayeb, Secretary of State for Security Ana Maria Botella, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to Rabat Ricardo Diez Hochleitner, as well as senior security officials from both countries, the two ministers expressed their satisfaction with the excellent and solid Moroccan-Spanish relations, thanks to the fraternal ties uniting His Majesty King Mohammed VI and His Majesty King Felipe VI. In this regard, Laftit and Grande-Marlaska welcomed the exemplary cooperation between the services of the Interior Ministries of the two countries, as evidenced by the convincing results of the operational and technical cooperation between the security services, particularly in the areas of counterterrorism and organized crime. Regarding the migration issue, they underlined the excellent and unique partnership which characterizes the Moroccan-Spanish cooperation in this area and which has rightly become a benchmark in the management of migratory inflows, integrating the security, humanitarian and development dimensions, in perfect symbiosis with the respect for human rights and the dignity of human beings.

This cooperation, which has resulted in a dynamic of coordination and information sharing between the two parties, has made it possible to achieve very significant results, mainly in the fight against human trafficking networks, the statement said. At the end of this meeting, the two ministers, while paying tribute to the work carried out by the various security services of the two countries, agreed to continue working to strengthen cooperation and coordination between their respective departments, in order to ensure and preserve the safety and security of their countries, region and neighborhood.