Morocco's King Mohammed VI visits UAE amid COP28

Morocco's King Mohammed VI is set to arrive today, Monday, December 4, in the United Arab Emirates on his first visit to the Middle Eastern country in six years.

"King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, pay an official visit to the State of the United Arab Emirates, as of Monday, December 4, 2023, at the invitation of HH Sheikh Mohammed Ben Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the State of the United Arab Emirates," Morocco's Ministry of Royal Household announced in a letter published Sunday in state news agency la MAP. 

The letter did not specify the duration of the visit. 

The Moroccan monarch's visit coincides with the UAE's hosting of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) and the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

Last week, King Mohammed VI addressed a letter to the gathering calling for a "paradigm shift" in global climate negotiations and urging world leaders to ditch "half-measures" and embrace a bold pact for action.

King Mohammed VI's official trip to the UAE is the first since the election of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed al-Nahyan as President of the country in 2022.

The last time Mohammed VI visited the Emirates was in November 2017. 

The Gulf region was amid a geopolitical crisis: the blockade imposed on Qatar by its neighbours, including Abu Dhabi. 

At the time, Mohammed VI flew from the Emirates to Qatar in what was heralded as a break of the said blockade. Doha and Abu Dhabi restored ties in 2021.

Since 1999, Rabat and Abu Dhabi have signed the "95 cooperation" accords, maintaining solid ties influenced, notably, by the close relationship between the two ruling families.