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.
King Mohammed VI has set in motion the building of a new mosque by laying the foundation stone in "Al Matar" place in the northern town of Tetuan. According to the Morocco Times, the mosque is expected to cost MAD 18Mn, about US$ 02Mn. The mosque is to be constructed on 4970 m2, in 24 months and would accommodate up to 3000 people for prayer. The facility comprises a room for men and another for women, a library and a Koranic school.After the Friday noon prayers at the Hassan II mosque of Tetuan, The king was briefed on the literacy program conducted in the mosques of the kingdom by The Habous and Islamic Affairs Ministry.
In The 2005-2006 academic year, some 60,000 people benefited from the literacy program courses dispensed by 2091 teachers in 1655 mosques throughout the country, including 677 in rural areas.
The Ministry literacy program to span from 2005 to 2010 is to target during this period around 500,000 people to attend the courses in 2334 mosques under a 1837 strong teaching staff and some 265 supervisors. The Habous Ministry earmarked MAD 22.8Mn for 2005-2006 and could spend MAD 53Mn for the program in 2009-2010.
"It is in the best interest of the United States, France and Spain to support a political solution to the Sahara conflict," said former UN deputy-secretary general and former special representative of the UN secretary in Western Sahara Eric Jensen. For "different motives, the United States, France and Spain should support a political, negotiated and mutually accepted solution," he said at the opening of an international conference called "Sahara: Visions for the Future" on Thursday (26 January) in Las Palmas, Canary Islands.
The former UN official cited a number of changes that have challenged the region recently -- especially globalisation, terrorism and illegal immigration. He said Morocco witnessed great changes since the coronation of King Mohammed VI, "who has put the country on the way of modernisation, democratisation and respect of human rights". Jensen noted history has shown that "Sahrawis are pragmatic" and that Algeria "aims to leave behind her bitter past".
A recent survey by the Moroccan daily, L'Economiste has revealed that 44% of young Moroccans aged between 16 and 29 believe that al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation, 31% said they had no idea whether al-Qaida is a terrorist organisation or not. The paper questioned if the 31% were really ignorant about al-Qaida or whether it was a way of not stating an opinion.
According to L'Economiste, claiming that al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation is mainly due to the US-led war in Iraq. For 76%, the US war in Iraq is unjustified and negative. The paper said there is a real condemnation by the Moroccan youth of the US foreign policy. �For them the al-Qaida represents an opposition to the US power. That could explain why many young Moroccan say al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation,� explained the paper. However in an interesting socio-economic view, the survey points to the fact that those who asserted al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation belong to lower socio-economic groups. Only 30% of rich people said it is not. "The poorer we are, the more we love al-Qaida," reported L'Economiste.
In other findings the survey, which questioned a sample of 776 young people, showed that 85% of young Moroccans practise their religion regardless of where they live or their social background. 99% of young men and women fast in Ramadan, and 90% of them perform their prayers regularly or occasionally. Only 9% of them declared they had never prayed.
The survey stated that age is not a factor that contributes to the change in religious habits. However, the social background may be a reason why some young people don't perform their religious rituals. The survey said there are more "non-performers" among the rich and middle class: 16% of them belonging to rich families said they don't pray or have never prayed; 8% from Middle class and 9% from poor families.
Asked about marriage, 67% of them said they could marry a non-Moroccan, but 73% said they won't marry a non-Muslim. In a surprising finding, given the influence of modernity in Morocco, the survey also revealed that 49% of young men prefer their wives to wear the veil.
These results explain, according to the paper, that the majority of Moroccans feel themselves Muslims before being Moroccans. "And this gives us an idea about the identity of the adults of tomorrow," stated the paper.
Authorities in the north-east region of Morocco seized over 15 tons of chira (extract of cannabis) in 2005 to 18 tons in 2004, a senior Customs officer in the region said. The drug was seized in 650 operations lead by local authorities in the north-east towns of Oujda, Taza, Nador and Al Hoceima. The figures were announced by El Arbi Belbachir, Customs Director of the north-east region, in a press conference during the celebration of the World Customs day.The said quantities do not include other substances seized as (kif, tobacco, cocaine, heroine, and ecstasy), Belbachir stressed.
The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Moroccan university Al Akhawayn of Ifrane have signed an agreement to set up a UNESCO chair under the theme "Water, Women and Decision Power". The main objective is to teach women in rural areas how to use water as a sustainable resource, as well as to facilitate collaboration between professors, researchers and decision-makers with UNESCO/chair international network members -- particularly in Argentina, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Brazil.
Morocco desperately need to come out victorious in their last Group A fixture against Libya on Saturday while hoping for already-qualified Cote d'Ivoire to beat hosts Egypt, if they are to make it through to the second round of the African Cup of Nations. The 2004 finalists, who are yet to score a goal in the tournament after a 1-0 defeat and a goalless draw, are third in the pool standings with only one point.
Full Story: Morocco Times - Atlas Lions grasp at straws.
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