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France, Morocco resolve visa face-off after W’Cup clash

  France and Morocco announced Friday they were mending fences after months of tension over visas, and said President Emmanuel Macron would visit the North African kingdom in early 2023. Speaking in Rabat alongside her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said it was time to “write a new page together.” The two countries have been at loggerheads since September 2021, when Paris halved its visa quota for Moroccans in retaliation for the kingdom’s alleged refusal to repatriate citizens living as irregular migrants in France. The move sparked widespread public anger in Morocco and was labelled as “unjustified” by Rabat. But Colonna said the countries had returned to “full consular cooperation” since Monday. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was expected to arrive in Morocco’s neighbour and arch-rival Algeria on Friday to discuss similar visa issues. Macron and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI spoke by phone on Wednesday night after their coun...