Jordan Times
Monday, March 8, 2004
PM, foreign minister review bilateral ties with Moroccan official
AMMAN (JT) — Visiting Moroccan Chamber of Advisers Speaker Mustafa Okasha on Sunday held talks with senior government officials and parliament leaders, focusing primarily on Jordan's efforts in instituting democratic reforms.
In separate meetings with Prime Minister Faisal Fayez and Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher, Okasha and his accompanying delegation, reviewed bilateral ties and both countries' experiences in working towards political reforms, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Senate President Zeid Rifai headed the Jordanian side in the talks with the Moroccan group. Rifai and Okasha spoke about cooperation between their parliaments in fields ranging from world peace to democratic reforms.
While visiting Jordan last week, US State Department Undersecretary Marc Grossman cited Morocco and Jordan as leaders in the region in terms of bringing about democratic transformation.
The Moroccan and Jordanian officials also discussed developments in Palestine and Iraq and called on the international community to assume its responsibility in arriving at peace and stability in the region. Both sides stressed as well that the Arab countries must stand together in the face of current challenges.
Meeting with Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali, the Moroccan team was briefed on Jordan's parliamentary history.
In talks with Minister of Political Development and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Daoudiyeh, the visiting parliamentarians were brought up-to-date on the new ministry's goals.
Daoudiyeh told the delegation that Jordan faces no problems in implementing its political reform plan “because all basic rights of citizens are already guaranteed.”
Also Sunday, Majali and his deputy, Mohammad Abu Hudeib, met separately with a delegation representing the foreign affairs committee of the Czech Republic's lower house for talks on economic and parliamentary cooperation. In that meeting, developments in the Middle East took centre stage in the discussions.