On 12 September King Mohammed VI who was in Paris when the earthquake struck visited the university teaching hospital in Marrakech to give blood and console some of the survivors who had lost family members...

We hear that Morocco's King Mohammed VI whose family has had close relations with the Bongo clan has offered to mediate with Gabon's military...

And a date is still to be set for a long-planned state visit to Morocco by France's President Emmanuel Macron suggesting frostier relations with King Mohammed VI...

He might struggle to get Morocco's King Mohammed VI to agree but Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch would may be interested in discussions over fertiliser supply deals with Russian producers...

Meanwhile Morocco's more diversified economy is reopening after a prolonged Covid lockdown that officials in Rabat are anxious to say wasn't driven by the health preoccupations of King Mohammed VI (M6 AC Vol 63 No 9 Navigating through the fog of cold war)...

King Mohammed VI's influence is strong even while his health remains in question...

Later Ruto held talks with Morocco's foreign minister Nasser Bourita who also attended the inauguration and delivered a congratulatory message from King Mohammed VI...

Last month Mohammed VI urged African governments to clarify their stance towards Western Sahara stating that this was 'the prism through which Morocco views its international environment'...

But factions in Algiers see MBS as favouring his fellow royal Morocco's King Mohammed VI...