Morocco drills for oil

That Morocco is an oil producer is not widely known but there has been oil production in Morocco since the 1920s and recent changes in the law have made Morocco a very attractive cuntry for oil and gas exploration. This is now firmly in the sights of the government. According to the Canadian company Stratic Energy, the American company, Heyco is to start drilling in the 3rd quarter of 2006 in the concessions of Moulay Bousselham and Maamora, north-west Morocco.

Stratic Energy estimates the drilling could cost USD 1.3Mn and was quoted in the bimonthly "Le Pétrole et le gaz arabes" of the "Centre arabe d'études pétrolières" [Arab Centre for Petroleum Studies] .

Stratic acquired a 36% working interest in two concessions located onshore Morocco. Existing seismic shows both concessions contain shallow gas anomalies and highly prospective deeper oil accumulations.

Morocco's oil exploration areas

In June 2005, Stratic announced that it was awarded a reconnaissance license together with TransAtlantic Petroleum Corp. as operator. Stratic will have a 40% interest in this license, in the Guercif-Beni Znassen area of north-east Morocco.

The Moulay Bousselham and Mamora concessions encompass 4,000 sq. km and contain a proven hydrocarbon fairway. The initial term on the concessions is three years, with options for extensions.

Existing seismic suggests the presence of both shallow Tertiary oil and gas and deeper Mesozoic oil targets. A number of shallow gas anomalies have been identified, but the potentially large accumulations of Mesozoic oil are of greater interest. Infrastructure includes a railway, gas pipelines and a refinery, all located on or immediately adjacent to the Company's blocks.

Stratic Energy Corporation is an international exploration and development company with four areas of interest. The Company expects to invest approximately $28 million in its asset portfolio throughout calendar year 2006. It has offices in Canada (Calgary), the United Kingdom (London) and Syria (Damascus).

HEYCO International was formed to capture value from international exploration and has been involved in upstream oil and gas activities in Europe for over a decade. Through various joint ventures, the company has drilled exploratory onshore wells in the United Kingdom and Spain, and recently acquired two onshore exploration permits equal to one million acres in Morocco.

HEYCO Maroc, a Moroccan subsidiary of HEYCO International, is the operator of the Moroccan permits.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Cartoon of the day - Morocco Times

Thanks to the Morocco Times.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Moroccan News Briefs - # 21

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.

Morocco to send aid to Mauritania, Djibouti and Somalia

Morocco has decided to send financial and food aid to Mauritania, Djibouti and Somalia to face the effects of bad weather.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry said Wednesday in a communiqué that the assistance is a sign of solidarity with the three brotherly countries. To Mauritania, which is witnessing a wave of cold, the kingdom sent some 40,000 blankets in addition to financial assistance. Somalia and Djibouti are facing a severe drought due to consecutive seasons of scarce rainfalls and crops

Environment protection foundation strives to cut down car polluting emissions.

Princess Lalla Hasna, chairwoman of the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, said the organisation took several actions, since its establishment in 2002, to fight pollution, notably car gas emissions.

The Princess, who chaired in the town of Mohammedia, 60 km south of Rabat, the kicking off of the second stage of the Qualit'Air program, said studies found most of the air pollution is caused by old cars' emissions that in turn cause respiratory health hazards. To remedy this problem, the Foundation has made several actions, including the improvement of fuel quality.

No bird flu case has been detected up to now in Morocco

No bird flu case has been detected up to now in Morocco, relevant authorities remain vigilant, nonetheless, regarding the disease, said Mohand Laenser and Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, respectively Ministers of Agriculture and Health.
The two ministers made the statement at the end of a meeting of the inter-ministerial avian flu follow-up commission held in Rabat on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Premier Driss Jettou. The officials told the "TVM" channel the meeting discussed the updating of the national plan aiming at monitoring, and taking action regarding the bird disease.

Two thirds of Moroccan poor are from rural areas

"Two thirds of the poor in Morocco are from the rural area," revealed, Moroccan Secretary of State in charge of Rural Development, Mohamed Mohattane.
Speaking at a meeting on "sustainable development, environment and poverty in Morocco," Mohattane noted that "one out of four persons is poor in urban areas." Rural poverty is due to natural and structural problems that hinder the development of this area. For his part, Mohamed Douidich from the High Commissioner of Planning said poverty rate in Morocco is estimated at 14.2% at the national level.

Moroccan king appoints new interior minister

On Wednesday, King Mohammed VI appointed a new interior minister, Chakib Benmoussa, to replace El Mostapha Sahel, who was appointed ambassador to the United Nations.

The king appointed several officials at different departments and public institutions. Moulay Mhamed Iraqi was appointed wali (governor) of Diwan Al Madhalim (ombudsman). The sovereign insisted on this occasion that Diwan Al Madhalim should set up implements to address in the best conditions citizens' complaints and grievances, particularly in relation to corruption.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Moroccan Blogs - the latest roundup.

Bloggers in the medina eagerly read Farah Kinani's latest post
Time once again for the Global Voices roundup from the Moroccan Blogosphere, and as usual Farah Kinani ( many thanks as usual!) has a wide range of posts with topics ranging from Valentine's day through to a Moroccan's view of America. However it was the following comment that had me following the links and hunting out my French dictionary.

Chighaf posts about Sidi Moumen, a very poor neighborhood in Casablanca. And she wondered, when is the Moroccan government going to find a solution (French) that can guaranty a decent life to thousands of Moroccans who still live in this notorious slum area.

"You don’t imagin what it means to be ashamed of his home and neighborhood..everytime I go there, my heart hearts..I’m sick of witnessing those kids ’s eyes changing from happy to hateful .. to desperate.."

Stay up with the latest Moroccan blogging by visiting Global Voices here: Valentine and the U2 in the Moroccan blogs

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Anti-Islamic Cartoons and the "Rage Machine"

Amir Taheri is an Iranian author of ten books on the Middle East and Islam. He is also a guest editorialist with Morocco Times. In a very interesting editorial he takes a shot at "the rage machine"...

The “rage machine” was set in motion when the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a political and not a religious organisation, called on its sympathizers in the Middle East and Europe to take the field.

A” fatwa” was issued by Yussuf al-Qaradawi, a Bortherhood sheikh with a programme on the Al Jazeera television channel which is owned by the Emir of Qatar.

Not to be left behind some of the Brotherhood's rivals, including the Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party) and the Movement of the Exiles (Ghuraba) also joined the foray.

Believing that there might be something in it for themselves the Syrian Ba'athist leaders abandoned their party's 60-year old secular pretensions and organised the attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies and consulates in Damascus and Beirut.

The Muslim Brotherhood's position, put by one of its younger militants, Tareq Ramadan, who is, strangely enough, also an advisor to the British Home Secretary, can be summed up as follows:

• It is against Islamic principles to represent the imagery not only of Muhammad but all the prophets of Islam.

• The Muslim world is not used to laughing at religion.

Both claims, however, are false.

Go to source: Response to the cartoon controversy : What is right and what is wrong :: moroccoTimes.com


Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Cartoon Contest to laugh about

A cartoon contest will be part of the Third International Festival of Laughter to be held between March 16-19 in Casablanca. The event will see the participation of a number of Moroccan and foreign artists and humourists

A communiqué from the organisers claims this festival intends to present the best of Moroccan and foreign humour, comedy, entertainment, including one man shows, theatre, music, improvisations and expositions.

The programme of the event also includes a round table on comedy in Moroccan cinema, and a cartoon contest that will be organized in collaboration with the Ecole supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Casablanca school of fine arts).


Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

What to do about Yassine?

When the Washington Post ran its piece entitled: Feud With King Tests Freedoms In Morocco, I naturally went to have a look. It turned out to be a rerun of all the old stories about Nadia Yassine. Nadia is becoming a bit of a folk hero because of articles like this and so maybe it is time for a reality check.

The Post article opened with a real tug at the heartstrings.

The monarchy in this North African country dates back 1,200 years and has survived foreign invaders, civil wars and communist plots. Now it is confronted by a new threat: a grandmother who preaches nonviolence and democracy.

But as Laila Lalami who writes the Moorishgirl blog points out:

The grandmother bit sounds absolutely charming until you find out that they're actually talking about Nadia Yassine, the opportunistic public figure of the Islamist group Justice and Charity. Yassine claims she wants democracy, but she has, in fact, campaigned against legal reforms to grant women equal rights under the law. The reforms went ahead without her.

Fortunately the Post article was a balanced piece of writing and if you hadn't been seduced by the sweet grandmother at the head of the piece you soon discovered that not all viewed Yassine with such affection...

Some who have fought hard for Morocco's emerging democracy said they have had to grit their teeth as Yassine's trial has unfolded.

"This is really infuriating for people who have fought for women's rights and democracy," said Latifah Jbabdi, president of the Union for Feminist Action, a Rabat-based group that has tangled with Justice and Charity. "She knows the new king is moving toward democracy, but that's not where the fundamentalists want to go. The bottom line is that they want an Islamic state. They want ayatollah power in Morocco. We cannot go there."

Justice and Charity was founded by Yassine's father, Abdessalam Yassine, a cleric who adheres to Islam's Sufi branch and who has spoken admiringly of the Iranian revolution and has been called Morocco's version of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The movement is banned from participation in national politics, but its existence is tolerated by the government and it is considered perhaps the most potent popular force in the country.

Yassine is a headache and dealing with her will be tricky. As the Washington Post pointed out by quoting Prince Moulay Hicham, who is second in line to the throne... "The survival of the monarchy itself will ultimately depend on its capacity to weather adverse opinion, however extreme it might be"

When it comes to the thorny question of what to do about Yassine, Moorish Girl summed up the feelings of most moderate Moroccans when she wrote:

...silencing her only makes her sound more interesting than she really is, i.e. someone who has absolutely no viable program for the future.

Laila Lalami is a fellow novelist and so I watch her blog with interest. You will find it here. Moorish Girl

Her post on Yassine is here: La Yassine is Back

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

No CIA prison in Morocco

For days the media has been circulating a story run by British tabloid, The Sunday Times, and Belgian daily, Le Soir headlined: Revealed: the terror prison US is helping build in Morocco and Enquête sur la prison de la CIA , with Le Soir also running a page nine article La CIA interroge au Maroc.

Tony Walker, the Sunday Times reporter in Rabat, seemed very sure of his information. He described a new interrogation and detention facility for Al-Qaeda suspects near Rabat and quoted so-called western intelligence sources saying that building was under way at Ain Aouda, above a wooded gorge south of Rabat’s diplomatic district.

Locals said they had often seen American vehicles with diplomatic plates in the area.

According to Walker... "The construction of the new compound, run by the Direction de la Securité du Territoire (DST), the Moroccan secret police, adds to a substantial body of evidence that Morocco is one of America’s principal partners in the secret “rendition” programme in which the CIA flies prisoners to third countries for interrogation. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups critical of the policy have compiled dossiers detailing the detention and apparent torture of radical Islamists at the DST’s current headquarters, at Temara, near Rabat. A recent inquiry into rendition by the Council of Europe, led by Dick Marty, the Swiss MP, highlighted a pattern of flights between Washington, Guantanamo Bay and Rabat’s military airport at Sale."

Le Soir claims that "the military base of Ben Guerir, about 260 Km south of Rabat, would also be a detention center devoted to Al Qaida terrorists."

According to French intelligence and diplomatic sources, the most recent "CIA rendition flight" was in the first week in December, when four suspects were seen being led blindfolded and handcuffed from a Boeing 737 at Sale and transferred into a fleet of American vehicles.

These disclosures have the potential to create a huge problem for the Moroccan King. Mohammed VI has a lot of support, in Morocco and abroad, for his efforts to suppress Islamic fundamentalists in the Kingdom but the task is made difficult by Morocco’s membership of a so-called “coalition of the willing”. If the reports of a CIA prison in Morocco turn out to be true it will create much more support for the Islamists and undermine the King's authority.

"Sheer allegations"

Aware of the devastating consequences of the problem, Moroccan authorities have gone into damage control mode and categorically denied stories on the building of the CIA prison. Morocco has rejected the stories as "sheer allegations devoid of any grounds," said a communiqué of the ministry of the Interior.

Without corroborating their sayings by any evidence, the papers affirm that Morocco, assisted by the United States, would be building a "new detention and interrogation center," in the vicinity of the town of Ain Aouda, close to Rabat, said the communiqué. Le Soir claims that "the military base of Ben Guerir, about 260 Km south of Rabat, would also be a detention center devoted to Al Qaida terrorists," it said.

The release went on to say that the Moroccan authorities, which are profoundly shocked and outraged, "reserve the right to undertake all the measures to re-establish the full truth."

The Moroccan government will also have some work to do in the blogosphere where stories can take on a life of their own - even the most obviously sensational. As an example of the lurid headlines, check out the wildly unbalanced post in the Eternal Hope blog and the website Political Cortex, which attempt to link the rendition story with trafficking in women and children. While debunking the ravings of the ratbag rightwing and holding the American administration to account for Gunatanamo, Abu Graib and Fallujah, may be a commendable aim, it should be done with balance and good investigative reporting. Otherwise it lacks credibility and can undermine the positive work that the Moroccan government has been doing to curb extremism.

For a more balanced look at the history of the CIA rendition flights visit Gary Johnson in Reykjavik Transit

Link: Google Sat-image of Ain Aouda

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Beyond words - the power of cartoons.

Thanks to the Morocco Times.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news