US defense funds “will continue to support Morocco’s participation in joint military exercises,” despite multiple congress officials protesting the deal linking the two countries.
“The US Secretary of Defense has just signed a waiver that allows the US-Africa Command to continue its cooperation and training with Morocco,” according to the command’s spokesperson Bardha Azari.
In an interview with the online news outlet MiddleEast Eye, Azari said that “the Secretary of Defense has just signed a waiver that allows the US-Africa Command to continue its cooperation and training with Morocco.”
The official confirmed that the US “military partnership with Morocco is strong, and we are confident that this unwavering partnership will continue to thrive in the years ahead.”
This confirmation is dissipating some US congressmen’s efforts to “limit military cooperation and arms deals with Morocco, conditioned to the Kingdom’s commitment to ending the Western Sahara conflict.”
Congress passed an amendment to US defense legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), that sought to limit funds supporting Morocco’s participation in any multilateral exercise administered by the Department of Defense.
The legislative’s condition was to be exceptionally waived if the US Secretary of Defence deems the cooperation “essential for the United States’ diplomatic and security interests.”
This waiver has now been issued, which will allow for US-Moroccan military cooperation to continue as planned, as US defense funds will continue to support Morocco’s participation in joint military exercises, after the decision from President Joe Biden’s administration to remove the obstacle established by Congress.
It comes only a day after a new session of the Strategic Dialogue between Morocco and the United States was held in Rabat on March 8, co-chaired by the deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, and Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita.
During the session, Sherman expressed her support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara as a “serious, credible and realistic, and a potential approach to meeting the aspirations of the peoples of the region.”
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