Moroccan, US national intelligence leaders discuss bilateral cooperation

Head of Morocco’s national security and domestic intelligence agency Abdellatif El Hammouchi and Avril Haines head of the US national intelligence discussed in Rabat the means to further bolster bilateral cooperation to counter mounting security challenges, including threats emerging from the nexus between terrorist and organized crime groups.

The meeting was a follow up of a visit paid by Hammouchi to Haines in the US on June 13-14, the Moroccan security institution said in a statement.

It was a chance to review the security conditions at the regional level and to examine new threats posed by the connivances between terrorist and organized crime groups which are increasingly affecting the cyber sphere.

They also discussed the means to bolster security and intelligence cooperation between Morocco and the US to reflect the quality of strategic cooperation between the two countries in favor of regional stability and security.

The talks confirm Morocco’s status as a reliable security partner and an oasis of peace and stability in a region beset by unrest and in-fighting.

Moroccan security agencies have acted in tandem with Western peers offering tips that helped foil many terrorist attacks in Europe and beyond.