Dubai: In an extraordinary GCC meeting, Moroccan King Mohammad VI stressed that now more than ever was the time for Arab unity.
“The Arab world is experiencing very sensitive times,” he said in a televised speech at the meeting of GCC leaders.
“We need to find solutions to the problems in our region,” he added, stressing that the security of the Gulf was synonymous with the security of Morocco. “Morocco faces the same challenges as those of Gulf countries,” he said.
He said the threat of terrorism not only threatens Muslims but has impacted the entire world.
He stressed that Morocco’s participation in the summit was not meant to be taken as being against any other country.
He went on to praise his country’s relations with the Gulf, saying the GCC model was exemplary.
Saudi King Salman stressed the importance of relations with Morocco and said its participation in the summit reflects the strong ties between the countries in all aspects.
He said that crisis in Yemen would be among the most important topics discussed by the leaders on Thursday.
In a separate press conference on the sides of a GCC-US summit, Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir and his Moroccan counterpart Salah Al Deen Mizwar, discussed the importance of collaborating to eradicate sectarian violence in the region and combat external interference, in a thinly-veiled reference to Iran.
Mizwar praised his country’s relationship with the GCC and said the relationship has become stronger since 2011.
“We sent a strong message to whoever wished to disrupt relations between Morocco and the Gulf,” he said.
On his part, Al Jubeir backed Morocco’s latest autonomy initiative to reach a solution on the Western Sahara issue, which King Salman also stressed during his during his comments at the leaders’ meeting.
