Morocco and Qatar cooperate closely in security matters
Abdellatif Hammouchi, Director General of National Security and Territorial Surveillance of Morocco (DGSN-DGST) of Morocco, has toured several countries in the Middle East, one of the stops being Qatar.
Abdellatif Hammouchi met in Doha with the head of the Qatari Security Service, Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Khulaifi, to discuss relevant security issues together with the departmental teams of the two state representatives.
This visit comes at a difficult international juncture marked by several international changes and conflicts that pose major security challenges, according to a security source quoted by the official Moroccan news agency MAP.
The meeting between the two officials served to address regional and global security issues such as the fight against extremist terrorism and the activity of international criminal groups, and the evolution of the various existing conflicts in areas where tension has escalated, such as the Gaza Strip, with the open war between Israel and Hamas. A war unleashed after the Israeli response to the bloody attack by the extremist Hamas group on its territory on 7 October, which killed more than 1,200 Jews and left more than 3,000 wounded. Israel's harsh military response on Gazan territory is resulting in tens of thousands of casualties and international diplomatic efforts led by the US, Qatar and Egypt have so far failed to produce the expected results to stop the conflict as soon as possible.
The meeting between Abdellatif Hammouchi and Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Khulaifi served to plan the implementation of "important security partnerships" to strengthen security coordination between the two countries. They also exchanged experiences in all areas of security and intensified efforts to address the impact of the scourge of terrorism on the security and stability of the two countries, according to MAP agency.
Morocco a reliable partner
Qatar and Morocco are allies who have recently stressed the need to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. In this line, last August, King Mohammed VI expressed Morocco's commitment to further boost bilateral ties with the Gulf country during a message addressed by the monarch to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Morocco is a reliable security partner and Qatar is counting on it. In fact, the Moroccan kingdom contributed to the success of the organisation of the last World Cup in Qatar by offering its experience and expertise in security matters.
Qatar thus follows in the footsteps of other countries that count on Morocco as an indispensable security ally in maintaining security and stability in hotspots such as North Africa and the Sahel or the Middle East. Nations such as the United States, France, Saudi Arabia and Spain cooperate closely with the Moroccan kingdom in security matters, both in police and security force operations against jihadist terrorism and criminal gangs, and in joint military exercises to prevent terrorist attacks or criminal activities of all kinds.
In recent months, Abdellatif Hammouchi himself has held security cooperation meetings with important officials from these countries, such as Lieutenant General Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Howairini, head of the Saudi Arabian Security Service, Nicolas Lerner, Director General of Internal Security in France, Eugenio Pereiro Blanco, Commissioner General of Information in Spain, Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence in the United States, the Director of the CIA, William Burns, and the Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray.