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Russia, Morocco in trade talks
07/09/2006 22:25 - (SA)
Casablanca - President Vladimir Putin began a visit to Russia's main African trading partner Morocco on Thursday seeking to widen his sphere of political influence on the continent beyond Moscow's traditional Cold War allies.
The visit, the first by a Russian head of state since Leonid Brezhnev 45 years ago, follows a two-day trip to South Africa where Putin pledged billions of dollars of investment.
Analysts played down the prospect of similar deals in Morocco, saying Putin's appearance was about improving ties with a kingdom that leaned towards the West during the Cold War and pushing Russian diplomacy beyond the usual circuit of Soviet-era friends.
"Putin is anxious to demonstrate that his Russia is a global player that is increasingly important on the world stage," said George Joffe of Cambridge University's centre of international studies.
Co-operation agreements
Putin arrived on Wednesday night in Casablanca, Morocco's commercial capital, where Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou greeted him.
On Thursday he was given a 21-gun salute and red-carpet welcome by King Mohammed at his royal palace in the city, where the delegation was due to sign a set of co-operation agreements.
Russia has an interest in building on a phase of warming relations with Morocco that began four years ago when King Mohammed visited Moscow.
It is a key buyer of a staple Moroccan export - phosphates - and Morocco's rich coastal waters are open to Russian fishing boats while remaining off-limits to European trawlers.
Newspapers reported that Russia was interested in building a nuclear power station in Morocco and that a delegation from Morocco's state power company One had visited Moscow late last month to meet managers of nuclear energy agency Rosatom.
Russia remains even-handed
Russia says Morocco is its main trading partner in Africa, with two-way sales totalling $1.5 billion last year.
But Algeria - Morocco's rival in the Maghreb and Africa - is Russia's leading military client on the continent.
Alarm bells sounded in Rabat last March when Putin visited Algiers and officials announced that Russia would sell $7.5bn (about R541bn) of combat planes, air-defence systems and other arms from Moscow in exchange for a debt write-off.
Analysts said Putin's Morocco visit was aimed partly at showing that, despite the arms sale, Russia remains even-handed in its treatment of Morocco and Algeria.
- Reuters
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