Rep. Keith Ellison is flying to Morocco this week to participate in a conference on international development and cooperation.
Ellison is speaking on two panels Friday at the 2010 MEDays Conference, hosted by independent Moroccan think tank Amadeus. The conference, which focuses on Middle East international relations, kicked off Wednesday in Tangier, a city on the country's northern coast.
The Minnesota Democrat is taking part in panels titled: "Special Session Middle East: Which new initiatives could restart the peace process?" and "Peacebuilding: Is Afghanistan an open air laboratory?"
Ellison plans to meet with U.S. Ambassador Sam Kaplan, a Minnesota native, while he's in Morocco.
A member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Ellison has taken numerous trips to Africa and elsewhere overseas, but he has not traveled to Morocco before as a congressman, a spokesman said.
