Security Working Group of the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue

Photo: State Department

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC
July 3, 2019

On July 3, 2019, the United States and Morocco convened a working group of the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue in Washington, D.C., in order to expand our existing security cooperation efforts.
Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, co-chaired the meeting with Director of the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s Global Affairs Department, Ismail Chekkori, in the presence of Her Highness Princess Lalla Joumala, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States of America.

Delegations from the United States and Morocco reaffirmed their ongoing commitment to strengthening counterterrorism cooperation and discussed the evolving nature of efforts to defeat ISIS and other terrorist groups in Africa. They discussed the urgent need for all countries to repatriate foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and prosecute them for the crimes they have committed.

The delegations agreed to build on ongoing initiatives to fight terrorism, including countering threats from terrorist ideology. The two sides also reaffirmed their interest in strengthening border security and countering terrorist travel, and discussed international cooperation in trade controls and nonproliferation frameworks, including the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and the Proliferation Security Initiative.

The Working Group concluded with a renewed commitment to improving law enforcement and justice sector cooperation and fighting cyber-crime, as well as in prison management, crisis management, and justice sector reforms.