Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.
Five Moroccans have been arrested on people-smuggling charges after the drowning of 10 people seeking to illegally enter Spain.
The 10 dead were among 41 people who sailed in a makeshift craft from a beach 70 kilometres north of Rabat on November 19. It ran into trouble off the Spanish port of Cadiz where a Spanish frigate rescued most of the passengers.
Former US president George Herbert Walker Bush, father of the current American leader George Bush, arrived in Morocco on Friday for what is understood to be a private visit scheduled to last less than a week.
The 81 year old ex-president, who, on Friday, was named by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as UN special envoy to co-ordinate response to the earthquake in Pakistan, was invited to a luncheon in Rabat with King Mohammed VI.
Morocco has obtained a US$200 million World Bank loan to finance its development plans and strengthen the kingdom`s financial sector
The Moroccan minister of finance and privatisation, Fathallah Oualalou, and Farid Belhaj, the head of the WB office in Morocco, who is in charged of the Middle East and Northern Africa announced on Saturday that the lastest loan will be disbursed in two phases.
The World Bank has approved two sectoral development support plans since the endorsement in May this year of the 2005-2009 co-operation strategy aimed at improving competitiveness, investment climate, boosting growth and job creation.
These plans, which are estimated to cost $350 million, are aimed at boosting the kingdom`s finance and housing systems.
The sources said that the latest loan, which was approved by the World Bank board of directors on Thursday, is "the result of a many years of committed dialogue" between the Bretton Woods institution and the Moroccan government.
The new loan will help improve the infrastructure, transparency and integrity of the financial sector by modernising payment systems, strengthening anti-money laundering and terrorism financing measures, and enhancing the quality of financial information.
"While some challenges remain, the loan approved today represents an important step in the establishment of a more efficient financial sector, one with greater capabilities to play a role in the financing of growth," said a World Bank statement.
Despite the gloomy predictions of some tour operators, Morocco is among the main medium haul destination for French tourists. The French Tour-operator Association listed Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt as being popular, even though there had been some terrorism related concerns.
Recently the French weekly "L'express" reported in an article titled "Where to without fear?" that Morocco is one of the countries at a moment where traveling has become a real danger because of weather hazards, terrorism, bird flue and air-travel risks.
The Dominican Republic, French Antilles, and the United States rank first in terms of the long-haul which suffered a slight decrease, according to the Association.
Tags: Morocco, Fès, travel, news
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