Morocco’s King In France Without Being Received By Macron Or Anyone Else!

Moroccan King Mohammed VI has been present since last week on a private visit to France, yet he was not received until Sunday evening by any French official, notably by President Emmanuel Macron, as usual.
The news of the visit of the king of the Makhzen to France, was reported by Moroccan media and confirmed by French media, including “Jeune Afrique” magazine, which is known for its closeness to the Makhzen regime. Although some local circles spoke of an unannounced visit the Monarch paid to Gabon, which was in December of last year.

The Moroccan and French media did not reveal the nature of this “special” visit, but said that the king of the Kingdom of the Makhzen will be staying at the Betz Palace, which he bought in France, and is located in the “Loise” area in the northeastern side of the French capital, Paris.

Sources related to this file linked Mohammed VI’s visit to France to the difficult health conditions he is going through, and said that Mohammed VI is accustomed to such visits, as he had previously performed heart surgery about five years ago, but was then received by President Macron, and the French media reported pictures and scenes of that visit.

Media reports close to the Moroccan regime talked about the political dimension of the visit, despite its special nature, and went on to say that this visit will constitute an opportunity for the Moroccan regime, in order to mend its sick relations with the French authorities, which began to preoccupy politicians in Morocco, given that Paris is considered an ally of Rabat in many files, including the Western Sahara case.

Moroccan-French relations are experiencing a silent crisis dating back to 2015, when the French justice decided to pursue the director of Moroccan intelligence, Abdellatif Hammouchi, on accusations of torture brought against him by Moroccan nationals residing in France.
This relationship was further exacerbated by the discovery of the espionage scandal through the Zionist program “Pegasus”, according to independent media and human rights investigations, which confirmed the involvement of the Makhzen regime in eavesdropping on senior French officials, led by Macron and his former Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, which angered Paris a lot.

As for the drop that spilled the cup, the French justice rejected the complaint filed by Morocco against the parties that investigated the espionage scandal, which affected French media and human rights NGOs.

Since his accession to the presidency in France more than five years ago, Macron visited Morocco once, and that was in June 2017. The French president also received the Moroccan monarch at the Elysee Palace after completing the surgery operation on his heart in a French hospital.

Although nearly a week has passed since the Moroccan monarch was in France, he was not received by the French president, and the media close to the Makhzen regime did not reveal if the “special visit” agenda included a reception by a host of the Elysee Palace of the Moroccan monarch, while this seemed to be related to his health conditions.

Since 2017, the Moroccan monarch has not paid any official visit abroad, which gave way to questions about his health, condition while his last appearance dates back to the visit that led the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, to Morocco at the beginning of last April, and that was for an “Iftar” banquet, and this raised doubts more than it cleared the confusion about the Moroccan king’s health condition.