Rabat/Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday gave a strong backing to the regime of Morocco's King Mohammed VI, praising its "democratic strength and pluralism" in a speech to the Moroccan parliament. Sarkozy arrived in the capital Rabat from Marrakesh, where he began his three-day official visit on Monday.
Sarkozy said he had come to see a "new Morocco," which was "democratic, plural, reconciliated with its past and with confidence in the future."
The president mentioned several examples of progress, such as the "transparency" of the recent legislative elections and reforms to improve women's rights.
He also backed Morocco's position in the Western Sahara conflict. Rabat refuses to stage a referendum on independence in the desert territory, as was requested by the United Nations in 1991, and proposes to grant it autonomy instead.
Sarkozy proposed a second Euro-African conference on immigration, which would be held during the French European Union presidency in 2008. The first such conference was staged in Rabat in 2005.
The president seeking to consolidate ties with France's former colony did not raise issues such as restrictions on press freedom or other complaints by human rights groups.
It was thought possible that he might do so when meeting King Mohammed in private during the visit.
Moroccan observers said that the only cloud over Sarkozy's visit were international arrest warrants issued by the French judiciary for five Moroccan officials, including the head of the royal gendarmerie, while the president was in the North African country.
The five are suspected of having information on the disappearance of Moroccan leftist opposition politician Mehdi Ben Barka in Paris in 1965. It has been suggested that the Moroccan security services had Ben Barka killed with French help.
"The French judiciary is independent," was Sarkozy's only comment on the arrest warrants.
Sarkozy was expected to bring back some dozen trade deals from his trip. On Monday, the two countries signed a cooperation agreement on civilian nuclear research in view of the construction of a nuclear plant for electricity generation in south-western Morocco.
Later on Tuesday, the president was due to leave for Tangier, where he was to give a speech on one of his most ambitious foreign policy proposals, the creation of a Mediterranean Union.
Sarkozy first articulated the idea in February, during the presidential election campaign, and said he intends with it "to put the Mediterranean (region) on the path of reunification after 12 centuries of division."
The daily Liberation on Tuesday cited a French diplomat who said the proposal is seen as a response to a number of risks the region poses, such as terrorism and illegal immigration, and to the Americans, who are increasingly active in North Africa.
Sarkozy also wants a counter-balance to the European Union, which he feels is too oriented to the east, the newspaper said.
The Paris-based International Herald Tribune reported Tuesday that, according to a confidential discussion paper to which it had access, regional cooperation is to be tied to five institutional initiatives: a Mediterranean Investment Bank; a nuclear energy agency; a Mediterranean university exchange programme, to foster cultural exchange; an environmental agency, to monitor water resources; and the creation of a common audiovisual undertaking.
To date, few details have been made public, and several prominent politicians, such as former prime ministers Alain Juppe and Michel Rocard, have turned down offers to become Sarkozy's representative for the project.
As a result, the job was given to the president's close adviser Henri Guaino, who is credited with having conceived the idea.
In addition, the project has received a cool reception from governments in the region, who suspect France of primarily pursuing its own interests through the Union, such as selling nuclear expertise or buying into the region's vast gas reserves.
In addition, it is unclear how much support the idea will find among EU countries, such as Spain, which has its own interests in the region.
A founding summit meeting, to be held in either Paris or Marseille, has been scheduled for June 2008, just before France takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union.
