Morocco backs French operation in Mali

Morocco, Spain, France and Portugal have issued a joint statement pledging to provide a "coordinated and efficient" response to tackle threats to security and stability in the region, two weeks after the beginning of the French-led military intervention in Mali against armed Islamist rebels. The Rabat statement identified counter-terrorism, and the fight against drug trafficking and illegal immigration as top priorities. "We agree on the need to deepen strategic, technical and operational cooperation on the different forms of criminality," read the document issued at the end of the meeting between interior ministers of the four countries. The meeting was organised by Moroccan Interior Minister Mohand Laenser. Speaking to reporters afterwards  Laenser said that his country "completely backs the French intervention in northern Mali, which is aimed at restoring the unity and sovereignty of the Malian state."