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Morocco recognizes Israel and wins Trump nod on Western Sahara

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Shaun Tandon and Sebastian Smith, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/reuters/12/10/israel-usa-morocco.jpg"/><figcaption>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and US Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman light the first Hanukkah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem&#x27;s Old City during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, December 10, 2020. Emil Salman, Pool via Reuters/File</figcaption></figure></div>RABAT, Morocco - Morocco confirmed Thursday it would resume diplomatic relations with Israel &quot;with minimal delay&quot; and lauded as &quot;historic&quot; a decision by Washington to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.Following a telephone call between US President Donald Trump and King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan ruler said his country would &quot;resume official contacts.... and diplomatic relations with minimal delay&quot; with Israel, according to a statement by the royal palace.Morocco and Israel had respectively maintained liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat in the 1990s, before closing them in 2000.A senior official at Morocco&#x27;s foreign ministry described the breakthrough with Israel as &quot;not... a recognition, but a normalisation, a resumption of relations that existed before&quot;, during a briefing in Rabat. The King said these &quot;measures do not in any manner affect Morocco&#x27;s ongoing and sustained commitment to the just Palestinian cause&quot;, according to the royal statement.He reiterated Rabat&#x27;s commitment to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict &quot;based on two states living side by side in peace and security&quot;.Morocco would continue to &quot;contribute efficaciously... to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East,&quot; the statement said.The King had also spoken with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and assured him that he &quot;would never relinquish his role in defending the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people&quot;.After the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, Morocco is the fourth Arab state since August to commit to establishing diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.- &#x27;Morocco&#x27;s sovereignty&#x27; - The Moroccan king also &quot;sent his sincere thanks to the US president&quot; for his decision to recognise Rabat&#x27;s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed and divided former Spanish colony, mostly under Morocco&#x27;s control, where tensions have simmered since the 1970s.Mohammed VI hailed the &quot;constructive position of the United States&quot;, which &quot;reinforces the dynamic of the consecration of the innately Moroccan nature of (Western) Sahara&quot;. His statement also alluded to the &quot;supportive positions&quot; of other &quot;friendly countries&quot;, in light of several nations opening consulates in the Moroccan-controlled northern portion of Western Sahara. The UAE in early November became the first Arab country to open a diplomatic mission in the Moroccan-controlled part of the territory, before Jordan announced it would follow suit and Rabat said Bahrain would also open a consulate there.An Algeria-backed independence movement -- which holds a fifth of Western Sahara -- has campaigned for a vote on self-determination through decades of war and deadlock.Morocco&#x27;s foreign ministry said that the US&#x27;s recognition of &quot;Morocco&#x27;s sovereignty&quot; over Western Sahara, alongside strong support for Rabat&#x27;s vision of autonomy for the disputed region under a UN-led political process, represented a &quot;historic breakthrough&quot;.ko-gk/dwo/sw© Agence France-Presse<div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1kfSXFf3554?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

WASHINGTON - Morocco has become the fourth Arab nation this year to recognize Israel, President Donald Trump announced Thursday, as he in turn fulfilled a decades-old goal of Morocco by backing its sovereignty in disputed Western Sahara.

WASHINGTON - Morocco has become the fourth Arab nation this year to recognize Israel, President Donald Trump announced Thursday, as he in turn fulfilled a decades-old goal of Morocco by backing its sovereignty in disputed Western Sahara.

Morocco recognizes Israel and wins Trump nod on Western Sahara

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Morocco recognizes Israel and wins Trump nod on Western Sahara

Shaun Tandon and Sebastian Smith,

Agence France-Presse

Published Dec 11, 2020 05:02 AM PHT

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Morocco

Israel

Donald Trump

Trump

Western Sahara

Middle East

Israel recognition

United Arab Emirates

Bahrain

Sudan

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