US and Moroccan troops have been training in southern Morocco since the start of January, western diplomats said Tuesday.
Magda Siekert, a spokeswoman at the US Embassy in Rabat, said that such joint military exercises take place regularly, about half a dozen times a year.
The diplomatic officials, according to AP, said troops were participating in land and amphibious maneuvers south of Tan-Tan, an Atlantic coastal city some 1,000 kilometers from the capital.
Meanwhile, the director of policy planning at the U.S. Department of State, Richard Haass, is to visit Morocco on January 9-10.
The US official will confer with Moroccan officials on means to upgrade relations between Morocco and the USA as well as on regional and international issues of common concern, MAP reported.
Haas is the major foreign policy advisor to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the news agency added. (Albawaba.com)
