Morocco and the United States are committed to fighting terrorism, Ambassador Nathan Sales, US Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said Thursday in Rabat. «The commitment shared by the government of Morocco and the United States to fight and defeat terrorists is at the heart of a strong Moroccan-American partnership,» Sales pointed out at a press briefing following talks with Morocco's minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Nasser Bourita. «Terrorist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaida continue to threaten and unite us in our determination to fight this scourge,» he said, adding that his discussions with Bourita were «productive». The US official also praised the «excellent» friendly relations between Morocco and the United States and their alliance to fight terrorism, particularly in the framework of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), co-chaired by Morocco and the Netherlands, and that of bilateral relations. Sales also expressed the wish of his country to step up this cooperation further in the future. At the regional level, the development of counter-terrorism capabilities and cooperation in the Maghreb and Sahel regions is at the heart of the Moroccan-American partnership in this area, with a view to strengthening security and stability in the region. At the multilateral level, the two countries are cooperating more intensively, notably within the framework of the GCTF, under whose auspices Morocco is jointly leading three initiatives, on border security, the fight against homegrown terrorism and the Initiative on improving capabilities for detecting and interdicting terrorist travel through enhanced terrorist screening and information sharing. This last initiative, which is scheduled to be launched in New York on September 27, is in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2396 that deals with the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters, especially those returning from conflict zones.
