www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/01/18/morocco.spain.ap -> www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/01/18/morocco.spain.ap/
RABAT, Morocco (AP) -- Spain's King Juan Carlos expressed the "immense pa in" he feels about the hundreds of Africans who die every year trying to sneak into his country across the Mediterranean. The Spanish monarch, on his first visit to Morocco in 26 years, told parl iament Tuesday that he hoped for greater cooperation between their two c ountries to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. "We cannot allow the seas that unite us to transform into a mass grave of lives cut short," he said in an address to a joint session of the legis lature. Juan Carlos expressed "immense pain in the face of these repeated tragedi es due to illegal immigration." Hundreds of people die each year trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar or reach Spain's Canary Islands off the Moroccan coast in the Atlantic. Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia arrived for a three-day visit on Monday, welc omed with a pomp-filled ceremony that kicked off his first visit since 1 979. The Spanish king appeared to echo Morocco's line on a political standoff in Western Sahara, a territory claimed by Morocco but disputed over with Polisario Front rebels. He called for a "just, definitive, negotiated settlement based on consens us among all the parties concerned." Morocco maintains its claim of sove reignty over the territory and opposes a referendum. In his speech, broadcast live on state-run TV and radio, Juan Carlos also called parliament "the voice of the Moroccan people," while praising th e monarchy for taking key steps toward democracy. Relations between Spain and Morocco have improved since the Socialist Zap atero took office last spring in place of Jose Maria Aznar, a conservati ve whose 8-year tenure was marked by tensions with Rabat. The two countries are 15 kilometers (9 miles) apart across the Strait of Gibraltar, and there has always been some tension over issues such as fi shing rights, drug trafficking and illegal immigrants. The Spanish king was to wrap up the three-day visit on Wednesday with vis its with business leaders in Marrakech. More than 600 Spanish companies operate in Morocco, making Spain the Nort h African country's second largest trading partner after France.
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