US Secretary of State reportedly expected in Morocco next week part of a Mideast tour

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Morocco next week, as part of a regional tour in the Middle East, reported Wednesday, the American website Axios, which is generally well-informed.

Tony Blinken is expected to travel to the Middle East at the end of his trip to Europe where he is accompanying, from this Thursday, the American president, Joe Biden, in Brussels, then in Poland, according to the Axios site, which quotes US and Israeli officials.

The tour will take the Secretary of State to Israel and the Palestinian territories, and then to Morocco and Algeria.

His original itinerary included stops in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but as the dates of the trip shifted back and forth several times, those visits were dropped, the site indicated.

According to US officials, Blinken wants to use the tour to show US engagement in the region is continuing.

Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel on Saturday evening and have meetings with Israeli officials in Jerusalem and will head Sunday to Ramallah for talks with Palestinian officials.

According to the US and Israeli officials, Blinken will travel on Monday from Israel to Morocco and from there to Algeria, the site said, noting that in recent months, there have been growing tensions between Algeria and Morocco over the Sahara conflict.

Earlier this March, during the visit in Rabat of Undersecretary Wendy Sherman to participate in the Morocco-US strategic dialogue, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita had announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Rabat next May to chair the meeting of the International Coalition against Daesh, to be attended also by France, Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK, Turkey and Spain.

Blinken is also expected to take part in the African-American Economic Forum to be hosted by Marrakech in July.