Morocco's Prince Moulay Hicham, King Mohammed VI's first cousin, said on Wednesday that he has filed a lawsuit against an MP who he accuses of defamation, and will attend the trial in Casablanca next month.

"I will be present on September at the court" in Casablanca, the prince told AFP, adding: "The actions against me are serious and unfounded. I am deferring to the law."

MP Abdelhadi Khairat, who belongs to Morocco's USFP left-wing opposition party, accused the prince several years ago of exploiting his privileges, including receiving a bank loan without guarantees, the local press reported in early August.

Khairat, who is also director of the USFP's two publications Liberation and Al-Ittihad al-Ichtiraki, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Prince Moulay Hicham, an academic at Stanford University in the United States, is known as the "rebel prince" for his outspoken criticism of his country's political system.

His appearance in court will be the first by a member of the Moroccan royal family.