Published Sat Mar 30 2019 14:19:32 GMT+0000 (UTC)by By NICOLE WINFIELD and AMIRA EL MASAITIRABAT, Morocco (AP) — Pope Francis landed Saturday in Morocco for a trip aimed at promoting moderate Islam and showing solidarity with the plight of migrants at Europe's door. Muslims, Christians and Jews have long lived peacefully in Morocco, even though Catholics are a tiny minority of about 23,000. The pope is travelling to Morocco 34 years after St. John Paul II became the first pope to visit. Morocco last year became the main departure point for sub-Saharan African migrants seeking to reach Europe via Spain, after Italy essentially closed its borders to migrants leaving from Libya. Morocco's government says it stopped 68,000 illegal migration attempts last year, and the EU agreed over the summer to give Morocco $275 million to halt the flow of migrants.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 30, 2019 14:15 UTC