Morocco's Crown Prince Moulay Rachid lauds Kuwaiti publications at int'l book fair

By Mustafa al-Soufi

CASABLANCA, Feb 8, 2008 (KUNA) -- His Royal Highness Crown Prince Moulay Rachid visited Friday the Kuwaiti pavilion at the 14th CasaBlanca International Book Fair.

Crown Prince Moulay Rachid was shown the display of books, periodicals, and publications from Kuwait by Bader al-Rifaei, secretary general of the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters, who told KUNA of Crown Prince Moulay Rachid's indelible impressions on the outpouring of writings from the small nation of Kuwait.

Crown Prince Moulay Rachid singled out in his praise the useful publications by the Council, especially a dictionary named A Bride's Crown (Taj al-Arous in Arabic), said al-Rifaei.

Lauding the book fair which displays publications from 44 countries, Muhammad al-Hajri, consultant at the Kuwaiti ministry of Information and a former caretaker of the Kuwait Information Bureau in Morocco, told KUNA that Kuwaiti publications at the fair have met with great enthusiasm by the public here.

Among popular Kuwaiti magazines valued by the fair-goers was the much-acclaimed "Al-Arabi," he noted, emphasizing that the fair represented a good linchpin in the bilateral Kuwaiti-Morocco relations.

The Al-Arabi magazine, a perennial pan-Arab favorite with the public all across the Arab world, is celebrating its 50th anniversay, which dovetails nicely with the convening of this international book fair, said the magazine's director of distribution Nasser al-Qahtan.

Up to 240,000 copies of the magazine are published every month, he said, in addition to a version for youngsters to the tune of 160,000 copies. These maganzines are available in the Arab world, Europe, and the US.