Morocco, France pledge to boost security cooperation

Rabat – Moroccan and French interior ministers discussed on Friday ways to boost security cooperation between Rabat and Paris, according to Morocco’s interior ministry.

“Morocco and France are determined to further strengthen their security cooperation, in particular through the exchange of information and expertise and the consolidation of the legal framework governing their cooperation in this area,” said the interior ministry is a statement.

Morocco’s interior minister Abdelouafi Laftit and French counterpart Gérald Darmanin reviewed the aspects relating to cooperation between their ministries, in particular those relating to the fight against illegal migration, drug trafficking and terrorism.

Morocco maintains close intelligence relations with France. Following the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, including 90 at the Bataclan theatre, the North African kingdom provided a crucial intelligence that enabled French police to locate the mastermind of the attacks and arrest a Belgian of Moroccan descent with direct links to the Islamist gunmen and bombers who carried out the attacks.