Israeli Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, is expected to meet Morocco's foreign minister during a two-day meeting of European and Mediterranean states, which convened Wednesday in Marseille, reported The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that even though Morocco recently joined Tunisia, Qatar and Oman in cutting all ties with Israel as a result of the ongoing confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli troops, unofficial dialogue between the two countries has continued.
The paper added that although the Tunisian foreign minister is also expected at the meeting, no meeting between him and Ben-Ami has been set up.
Ben-Ami said at the opening ceremony that "we want to end now the cycle of violence and return to the negotiating table. We went to Sharm el-Sheikh with the presence of the Europeans and came to understandings, and anyone who knows the details knows that [Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser] Arafat does not want, or is unable to stop, the violence."
The escalating situation in the Palestinian lands looms over the Mediterranean summit, part of what is known as the Barcelona Process, meant to increase political, economic, and cultural cooperation between European and Mediterranean states, said the paper.
France, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, had already scrapped plans to finalize an ambitious charter for peace and stability because of the violence.
Instead, one Israeli diplomatic source said, the hope is now that the conference will at least bring about meetings between Ben-Ami and his colleagues that could lead to some kind of formula for putting an end to the violence, said the paper.
France hoped the conference would agree on improved arrangements for a regional aid program. The Euro-Mediterranean program is supposed to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, grants and cheap loans into the region annually, said the paper - Albawaba.com
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