On Saturday, a Moroccan delegation, headed by the Head of the Affairs of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) at the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arrived in Tripoli. The visit took place to prepare for the reopening of the Moroccan Consulate in the capital after an eight-year closure.
According to a statement by the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the delegation included a number of senior officials of the Ministry. They were received by the Director of the Arab Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Khalifa Al-Qaidi.
The Ministry explained that they discussed facilitating visa procedures for Libyan citizens from the Consulate headquarters in Tripoli.
The joint Libyan-Moroccan Consular Committee had concluded, during its meetings last November, an agreement to facilitate the access of Libyan students and their families to visa and residency in Morocco. They agreed to grant visas to investors and businessmen. They also agreed to grant visitor visas for citizens of both countries, and work to facilitate the resumption of flights.
The Libyan Foreign Ministry said that the decision to open the Moroccan Consulate in Tripoli is in line with the efforts of the Government of National Unity (GNU) to support mechanisms of cooperation between Morocco and Libya. It added that this comes in implementation of what was agreed upon during the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Najla Al-Mangoush, to Rabat last June.
In December, the Libyan Ambassador to Rabat, Abu Bakr Al-Taweel, held talks with the members of the Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX), to discuss the possibility of resuming direct flights between Casablanca and the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
In a statement, the ASMEX said that its Head, Hassan Al-Idrisi, agreed to organize a mission for Moroccan businessmen to Libya as soon as possible, with the Libyan Ambassador to Morocco. They also highlighted the importance of establishing a Moroccan-Libyan business club that would be held on a regular basis.
Both sides also discussed the possibility of organizing a permanent exhibition of Moroccan products in Tripoli.
In 2015, Morocco suspended all flights between Moroccan cities and Libya and closed its airspace to Libyan airplanes because of security concerns. The decision was made after the death of 21 Christian Egyptians by a radical Libyan group claiming allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.