Bamako,20 sept. -(ANA) - King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who arrived in the Malian capital Bamako on Wednesday to take part in the swearing-in of Mali's president-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, held talks with a number of African heads of state and the French President Francois Hollande.
The Moroccan sovereign met with Tunsia's president Moncef Merzouki, the gabonese president Ali Bongo Ondimba, President Alpha Condé of Guinée, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger,  President Idriss Deby of Chad and President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire.

Talks focused on bilateral relations and means and ways to consolidate them, regional security and social and economic development.

Emphasis was also put on the importance of south-south cooperation between african states. The Moroccan King was also keen to underline the importance of Mali's reconstruction and political and economic in order for the country to enjoy stability and security.
Morocco helped Mali with food and medical shipments for the displaced as well as a mobile hospital.

Mali’s new President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was inaugurated in Bamako on Thursday, with French President François Hollande and several African leaders in attendance as Mali marks the start of a new era of democracy after months of political unrest that led France to launch a military action in January, aided by African troops, to oust  Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda who occupied northern Mali last year.

His inauguration, held at the 55,000-seat March 26 Stadium in Bamako, gathered leaders from a host of African countries invited to welcome Mali's new leader, elected by a landslide in August 11 elections.

Hollande said in his speech that the war on terror had been won in Mali and hailed the country’s return to democracy.

France's latest engagement in Mali, however, was more than just a mission to free the former colony from the clutches of Islamist militants. Thursday's ceremony marks the beginning, rather than the end, of a new era of French involvement in the country. -(ANA)

AB/ANA/ 20 September 2013  - - -