French, Moroccan FMs discuss bilateral, regional and Arab issues

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met here late Wednesday with his Moroccan counterpart Saad-Eddine Al-Othmani to discuss bilateral relations, regional questions and Arab issues, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday. Both men expressed broad satisfaction with the current "exceptional" relationship between their two countries and discussed preparations for the next major, bilateral meeting on December 12-13 in Rabat. It is the eleventh such high-level meeting between the two nations and the delegations will be led by the Prime Ministers of each country. The two ministers also discussed here the ongoing crises in Mali and Syria and the situation in Gaza, which erupted in violence this past week. Fabius and Al-Othmani took the opportunity "to confirm (their) large convergence of viewpoints on the principal regional questions, in particular on Mali, Syria and the situation in Gaza," the French statement said. They also discussed the agenda for the Moroccan presidency of the UN Security Council, which takes place in December for a month. In addition, they addressed preparations for the forthcoming "Friends of Syria" meeting, which is scheduled to be held on December 12 in Marrakesh.