DATE=4/7/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-288434

TITLE=POWELL-MOROCCO (S)

BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST

DATELINE=AGADIR, MOROCCO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Secretary of State Colin Powell has begun a crucial Middle East mission in Morocco, with meetings with Morocco's King Mohammed and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah. Mr. Powell is seeking greater support from U-S Arab allies in efforts to quell Israeli-Palestinian violence. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from Agadir, Morocco.

TEXT: The secretary met King Mohammed almost immediately on arrival here, after an all-night flight from Washington, and is to see Crown Prince Abdullah later in the day in Casablanca.

Mr. Powell hopes the peace overture of the Saudi Crown Prince offering Israel Arab-wide recognition, if it withdraws from occupied land, can be the basis for a renewed regional peace process.

But an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire is his immediate objective. And the secretary wants Saudi Arabia and other America's Arab allies to exert more pressure on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to curb anti-Israeli violence, especially the wave of suicide bombings that sparked Israel's military drive in the West Bank.

The secretary sees Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo Tuesday, before going to Madrid for meetings with the European Union and Russian foreign ministers. He is not due in Jerusalem until Friday. (Signed)

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