HAVANA - Cuba and Morocco signed an agreement Friday to reestablish diplomatic ties after a gap of 37 years, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Guided by the mutual will to develop friendly relations, the two governments agreed to reestablish ties as well as political, economic and cultural cooperation," said the agreement, signed by the two countries' envoys to the United Nations in New York.

Relations will be restored with ambassadors being exchanged. Morocco's King Mohamed VI has already ordered the opening of an embassy in Havana, one of the few Latin American capitals where Rabat was not represented to date.

Morocco cut ties with Havana in 1980 after Cuba recognized Western Sahara as the independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Morocco claims the territory as its own.

King Mohamed VI traveled to Cuba earlier this month for a private family visit, but it is widely believed that he maintained diplomatic contacts with the Cuban government during his stay there.