Five international organizations: AL AMU NAM OIC OIF 

Morocco's important role in the quest for lasting peace in the Middle East was underlined by Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's visit to Rabat following the signing in Washington D.C. of the 1993 peace accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization. King Hassan's foreign policy was ambiguous, for while he negotiated with Israel he also headed the Jerusalem Committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Generally more pro-Western than other Arab states, Morocco has also earned respect by protecting its Jewish minority.

International disapproval has focused on Morocco's occupation since 1975 of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. Resistance by Polisario Front guerrillas, who are fighting for an independent Western Sahara, began in 1983 and has continued, despite a 1991 UN-brokered peace plan. Since then, UN proposals have included a referendum on self-determination and autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. The process remained stalled in 2003, the UN repeatedly extending its mandate.

Relations with the EU were strengthened with the signing of an association agreement in late 1995, envisaging free trade in industrial goods within 12 years.

Sovereignty disputes with Spain over rocky islets in the Mediterranean were at the heart of a high-profile confrontation in 2002.

From "The Financial Times World Desk Reference" © Dorling Kindersley 2004