Spain Interior Minister: Morocco Is a Loyal Partner to Madrid

Spanish Minister of Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska. (EPA)
Spanish Minister of Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska. (EPA)
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Spain Interior Minister: Morocco Is a Loyal Partner to Madrid

Spanish Minister of Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska. (EPA)
Spanish Minister of Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska. (EPA)

Spanish Minister of Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska stressed on Friday that Morocco is a "loyal" and "fraternal" partner with which Madrid maintains "excellent" ties.

"Morocco is a state that cooperates with Spain. It is a loyal partner and, of course, I would even say fraternal," Grande-Marlaska said to the press.

The relations between Spain and Morocco are "so satisfactory" and the mutual trust is "so important", the Spanish minister added, highlighting the April 7 Joint Declaration that launched a "new stage in the bilateral partnership."

"There is no need to worry, because relations between the two countries are exceptional and excellent," he stressed.

In September, the Spanish government welcomed the "intense" strategic partnership between Spain and Morocco, which reflects "a new stage" based on "transparency, permanent communication and mutual respect.

"We have an intense bilateral program covering all aspects of our bilateral relationship, based on transparency, permanent communication and mutual respect. These are the principles of a sincere cooperation between two strategic partners like Spain and Morocco," said Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares after meeting with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September.



Sudanese Need Protection, but Conditions Not Right for UN Force, Says Guterres

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters
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Sudanese Need Protection, but Conditions Not Right for UN Force, Says Guterres

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia October 24, 2024. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the Security Council on Monday for its support to help protect civilians in war-torn Sudan, but said conditions are not right for deployment of a UN force.

"The people of Sudan are living through a nightmare of violence — with thousands of civilians killed, and countless others facing unspeakable atrocities, including widespread rape and sexual assaults," Guterres told the 15-member council. War erupted in mid-April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world's largest displacement crisis, Reuters reported.

"Sudan is, once again, rapidly becoming a nightmare of mass ethnic violence," Guterres said, referring to a conflict in Sudan's Darfur region about 20 years ago that led to the International Criminal Court charging former Sudanese leaders with genocide and crimes against humanity. The current war has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. The RSF killed at least 124 people in a village in El Gezira State on Friday, activists said, in one of the conflict's deadliest incidents.

The RSF has previously denied harming civilians in Sudan and attributed the activity to rogue actors.

Guterres acknowledged calls by Sudanese and human-rights groups for stepped-up measures to protect civilians, including the possible deployment of some form of impartial force, saying they reflected "the gravity and urgency of the situation."

"At present, the conditions do not exist for the successful deployment of a United Nations force to protect civilians in Sudan," he told the council, but added he was ready to discuss other ways to reduce violence and protect civilians.

"This may require new approaches that are adapted to the challenging circumstances of the conflict," Guterres said.

The UN says nearly 25 million people - half of Sudan's population - need aid as famine has taken hold in displacement camps and 11 million people have fled their homes. Nearly 3 million of those people have left for other countries.