RABAT - Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said he believes Morocco could be the go-between needed to ease tensions in the Middle East peace process, in an interview with the daily Le Matin newspaper published here on Thursday.
"As a friend of the state of Israel and the Jewish people, and as a friend of the Palestinians, Morocco can play an important role by helping create an atmosphere that encourages peace," Peres told Le Matin.
"Morocco could serve as a bridge between us and the Arab world," said Peres in the exclusive interview with the Moroccan daily.
"The warm relations that have been strengthening for so long between Morocco and the Jewish people may become a model of coexistence," he added.
After the Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1993, Israel opened a liaison office in Rabat in 1994 while Morocco opened a similar one in Tel Aviv in 1995.
Morocco suspended relations with Israel in October 2000 in the wake of the start of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occpuation.
Peres's comments come after Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said, while visiting Mauritania, that Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip could create a breakthrough in its diplomatic relations with the Arab world.
The minister, who earlier said the pullout could lead Israel to forging ties with up to 10 Arab countries, on Wednesday expressed particular optimism with respect to Morocco, Tunisia, Qatar and Oman.
Mauritania, Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries which currently have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
05/05/2005 14:00 GMT