AL HOCEIMA, 26/10/00 - What should have been one of the highlights of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander's trip to Morocco turned into disappointment yesterday. The discussion the prince was going to have with re-emigrated Moroccans could hardly be called lively.

The 43-year old Ahmed Ben Allou, a re-emigrated Moroccan man who used to live in Bergen op Zoom, was yesterday the one and only person awaiting the heir to the Dutch throne. After a short career as pub owner in the Noord-Brabant town, the man now runs a cafe in Al Hoceima.

The organizers of the meeting explained yesterday that it had been very difficult to find candidates "suitable to enter discussion with the Prince of Orange". The exact reason for the low turnout remained unclear however. Nor could anyone tell how many Moroccans exactly returned to their own country after having lived and worked in the Netherlands.

The Government Information Service expressed disappointment too with the course of events and considered that the Prince "was probably taken by surprise". To Ben Allou it was all the same. He said he was proud and happy about his meeting with Willem Alexander.