How Safe is Morocco?

New data, which assesses crime rates, terrorism threats, risk of natural disasters, and health issues in 20 countries, revealed Morocco as a destination with less crime and terrorism compared to some European countries, and the USA

Iceland tops the safety chart - Morocco in eighth place

Morocco is considered safer than Jordan, France, Greece, Turkey, South Africa and Italy.

The study’s crime rates are based on statistics by the World Economic Fund, likelihood of major natural disasters on the World Risk Report, health risks on the NHS Fit for Travel website, and terrorism risk levels on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) assessment.

In terms of terrorism worldwide, “Terrorism can’t be ruled out anywhere,” the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office says. However, the report states that terrorism is “very likely in Australia, Jordan, France, the US, India, Thailand and Turkey,” more so than in Morocco and other countries.

Health risks are notable in travel destinations such as Singapore and Australia affected by dengue fever, and areas of India, South Africa, and Thailand affected by malaria, according to the report.

Morocco ranks among the world’s least dangerous countries, according to the US Department of State’s January report.

The US State Department advised Americans visiting Morocco to “exercise normal precautions”. The department advises US travelers to be extra cautious in Algeria or avoid it because of high terrorist threats.

Morocco received 8.7 million tourists from January to August 2018, according to the latest statistics by the Ministry of Tourism. Tourist arrivals from Italy made the most considerable increase between the first eight months of 2017 and 2018, rising 14 percent. German tourist numbers increased 10 percent, French 7 percent, and Dutch 6 percent.

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Extra Security in Morocco

Security across Morocco is being ramped up in preparation for the end of year celebrations. Travellers can expect more police checkpoints and increased patrols

New security units are preparing to join national security from the end-of-year celebrations, According to the newspaper Al Massae , the head of the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN), Abdellatif Hammouchi, has announced the creation of commando units working in conjunction with the judicial police. These new teams will look much like the US Rapid Response Brigades.

The DGSN is on the alert to succeed in securing these holidays. The security alert is at its highest level and a new security strategy is planned in all cities to cancel any risk of terrorist attack. Embassies, consulates, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, train stations and airports will be closely monitored by security forces. Checkpoints will also be installed at the entrance of major cities that will experience the most traffic flows.

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The Islamic State’s Problem With Women - Fatima Sadiqi

Commentary on the Islamic State is most often by men. For a change, here is an interesting piece by well-known Moroccan academic, Fatima Sadiqi. Fatima is Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies at the University of Fez, Morocco, and a recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Center Fellowship. Her writing of the Islamic State's problem with women was published by Project Syndicate - and is republished with permission from the author

It is telling that women feature heavily in the Islamic State’s rise and fall. While ISIS’s craven massacre of Yazidi women in Iraq and Syria helped put it on the map, its gradual downfall is coming partly at the hands of Kurdish women fighting against it on the front lines.

It is easy to see a simple revenge story in this progression, but a deeper reading points to the fundamental role of women in ISIS’s ideology, and their future role in its denouement.

When ISIS captured territory in 2014 to establish its self-proclaimed caliphate, it wanted to stage a spectacle that the world would be unable to ignore. So it resorted to the mass abduction, murder, rape, and enslavement of women, especially among the minority Yazidis. ISIS’s brutality against its female captives was intended to humiliate the enemy and send a warning to anyone who did not adhere to its extremist, radical interpretation of Islam.

Yazidi women and children flee the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, west of Mosul

In January and February 2016, Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 Yazidi women and girls and 21 Sunni Muslim Arab women who managed to escape from ISIS. Most of them spent more than a year in captivity, and say they were forced to convert to Islam (if they weren’t Muslims), enslaved, systematically raped – sometimes by multiple jihadist militants – and bought and sold.

These women’s tragic stories suggest that the ISIS pseudo-state was built on the total subjugation of women, and the group has indeed frequently crafted brutal, misogynistic propaganda to express and promote its ideology.

ISIS has institutionalised physical and psychological violence against women through fatwas (religious decrees) issued by senior ideologues. Worse still, this practice has been exported to other extremist groups, such as Boko Haram in West Africa, which pledged allegiance to ISIS in early 2015.

The group’s ideology requires the “erasure” of women’s civil rights and their full subordination to the family structure and the men who control it. The sanctioned course of a woman’s life is to remain at home and raise young jihadists to fight for the state. Women who transgress the ideal role of wife and mother by seeking autonomy or self-expression outside the family are severely punished.

This is all based on a perverse interpretation of Islamic law, which, not surprisingly, still operates only in the domain of family law. In this context, women are needed to legitimise the fatwas upholding the ruling ideology; but they also make for useful scapegoats when needed.

Against this backdrop, it is especially ironic to see Kurdish women soldiers in the front line of the United States-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Recent military operations have reclaimed territory that was long under ISIS’s control, including areas south of Mosul, the group’s capital in Iraq. The images from these victories, featuring women, are an antidote to ISIS’s poisonous propaganda, and they encourage more women to resist the group’s ideological dictates.

22 year old Asia Ramazan Antar - killed this week in a car bomb attack against Kurdish women

The message seems to be spreading. As ISIS’s grip on territory loosens, so, too, does its control over women. The most memorable image from the liberation of the Syrian city of Manbij was that of women burning their burqas and publicly denouncing ISIS atrocities.

These powerful symbolic gestures will have both short- and long-term effects. In the short term, they are a public assertion of women’s autonomy; after so much propaganda and brutality, many in the region no longer thought such behaviour was possible. In the long term, images of women actually killing and capturing ISIS fighters amount to the first nail in the coffin of the group’s ideology, which is founded on the false premise of feminine inferiority.

Because ISIS put women at the centre of its ideology, women are a significant hidden threat to it. By demonstrating their personal agency against ISIS’s dictates, women freed from its control remind the world that the group has hijacked Islam’s universal values and perverted its teachings.

It is fitting that strong and courageous women should help defeat a group whose founding myth rests on the violent subjugation of women. Women’s role as fighters, perhaps more than anything else, will ensure that the tenets of ISIS – particularly its lethal brand of patriarchy – are rejected outright.

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Morocco - a Safer Destination than France

While Morocco is still suffering a slow down in tourist arrivals with only 3.48 million visitors in the first five months of 2016,spare a thought for France. While often described as "the first tourist destination of the world", tourism in France is slowing. According to Matthias Fekl, French Secretary of State in charge of promoting tourism, international tourist arrivals in France have plummeted 10% since the beginning of the year

Paris is being avoided by many tourists

"The number of international overnight stays fell by an average of 10% in the first six months of the year," said Fekl, adding that Paris and the Ile-de -France were the most more affected areas. Yet, other areas are suffering after the attacks.

An interesting observation is that customers with high purchasing power, such as those from the United States, Asia and the Gulf, were the ones most fearful after recent attacks reacted strongly to the attacks. Chinese interest in France, in particular, has been on the wane. France issued just 320,000 visas in China in the first six months of this year, a drop of 15 per cent from the same time in 2015, according to the French ­embassy in Beijing.

Even more Chinese tourists will be deterred from once must-see destinations by the killings in Nice on July 14, the Munich shooting last week and the knife attack in Normandy this week, ­analysts and travel agents say.

International flight bookings to Nice dropped 57 percent compared with the previous year from the date of the attack to July 23, while planned arrivals this month and in September were down by about a fifth for France as a whole

"Upscale hotels are suffering more. Fortunately, 80% of visitors are Europeans who maintain their holidays," said the secretary of state, noting that despite the Brexit, the British have not canceled their visits.

This year Chirac chose Morocco

It is hoped that many of the 85 million visitors who would normally choose France for a holiday will now select more secure destinations such as Morocco.

The trend has started with an increase in French backpackers and mid-range tourists. There have also been several high profile arrivals from France.

 The terrace of Les Blancs - a Chirac favourite

The former French president, Jacques Chirac normally holidays in Saint-Tropez, but this year he took his private jet and flew into Agadir. This is not his first trip and in previous years he was seen taking coffee at La Madrague or on the terrace of Les Blancs, located in the marina of Agadir.  He and his wife Bernadette, often spend Christmas in Taroudant (700 km south of Rabat) where they have a private residence.

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Sensationalism and Inaccuracy in Reporting Damages Morocco

Reporting of the recent atrocities in France has had an unfortunate side consequence for Morocco. Time and again the suspects were named as being French or Belgian - "of Moroccan origin". The result is the perception that somehow Moroccans were involved. 

To be clear, a Belgian or French national, is French or Belgian, no matter where their mother, father or grandfather was born.

According to Moroccan websites and social media, Moroccans reject any connection with the terrorists and like almost every other nationality has been showing strong solidarity with the people of Paris.

"Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Moroccan who was behind the attacks in Paris"  - a review article entitled published in the online journal Le 360 

The most obvious case in point is that of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged sponsor of the attacks on November 13. Almost every news outlet, including some in Morocco, stressed that he had Moroccan parents. The information spread like wildfire in Morocco, relayed by the national media and social networks, provoking a wide variety of angry reactions.

"In my opinion, it is not authentic to label Abaaoud as Moroccan as he is a Belgian. I have nothing against dual nationality, quite the contrary,  but he grew up in Belgium. He speaks Arabic very badly, he knows nothing of Morocco," says Alioua Mehdi, a sociologist and lecturer at the International University in Rabat.

It raises the interesting question as to why Morocco is seen in such negative light.  Supposedly it enhances the news value of a story to label a terrorist as "Moroccan", when he patently has only an ancestral connection with the Kingdom. It is irresponsible and lazy journalism.

Following the Paris and Tunis attacks Moroccan tourism has taken a hit with local tourism professionals telling The View From Fez that tourist numbers have dropped dramatically.

Morocco has also caused anger in the ranks of daech (ISIL) by its assistance to French and Belgian security agencies. The group posted threats to Morocco on social media including  "to annihilate soldiers, blow up palaces and destroy the economy".  In response Morocco is on high alert.

Arabic daily Al Massae reports that Morocco's civilian security forces (police) and military (Royal Gendarmerie and the Auxiliary Forces) and its intelligence services are on high alert. The State Security Intelligence Unit, the DGSN has cancelled police leave and significantly increase the degree of vigilance at borders, airports and ports to to prevent terrorists entering the country.

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Winning the War Against ISIS

Morocco's security forces have established a strong reputation for acting swiftly to break up extremist cells and arresting those involved in recruiting for Daesh (ISIS)

Morocco and Spain are working closely together on security issues

The Moroccans are also working closely with security forces in Europe including in France, Belgium, Holland and Spain.

On Sunday Spanish and Moroccan authorities arrested 10 suspects with links to the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS).

Jorge Fernandez Diaz, the Spanish Interior Minister, said this network was especially focused on recruiting women. Four of the arrests, two men and two women, took place in Spain, while the remaining six detentions were in Casablanca.

The women arrested in Spain were both Moroccans, while one of the men was a Spanish national of Moroccan ancestry and the other a Portuguese citizen converted to Islam. The group is notorious for its brutality and many human rights violations, as well as for recruiting people from all over the world via social networks.

According to the mayor of Xeraco in Valencia, where police operations lasted from 5.30-9 a.m. local time [0330-0700 GMT] Sunday, one of those detained is a girl around 20 years old, who is believed to have been living with her parents.

Investigators seized documents from the suspects and will be analysing them, Fernandez Diaz said. By the end of September, Spain had been involved in the arrest of 71 suspected Islamist militants at home and abroad, up from 46 in the whole of 2014, according to interior ministry figures.

Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) is credited with being at the front line in the campaign against extremism and has been praised for its intelligence gathering and swift operations. The BCIJ was only set up in March 2015 but within days had been making major arrests (See story here).

Back in September the BCIJ displayed weapons, ammunition, tasers, swords and bomb-making materials seized from the jihadists.

BCIJ Director Abdelhak Khiame

“The weapons came to Morocco through the eastern borders with Algeria,” BCIJ director Abdelhak Khiame said. The jihadists had pledged allegiance to ISIL and planned to call their affiliate the Caliphate Soldiers in Morocco, Khiame said.

Officials said the five-member terror cell, one of a number recently dismantled in Morocco, was operating in the southern city of Essaouira and the central town of Sidi Allal al-Bahraoui.

At the same time Morocco is said to be assisting the French in air strikes against Daesh is Syria. On September 27th, one year after the launch of the international coalition, France launched strikes against a training camp for fighters of the terrorist organisation in the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, in the east of the country.

Moroccan fighter jets may be assisting the French

Almost two weeks later, the Moroccan weekly Al Ousboue Assahafi, citing a "Western source", suggested that F-16 combat aircraft of the Moroccan air force based in the UAE had provided support in the bombing. The Moroccan media does not specify the nature of the assistance provided by the Moroccan forces but it is accepted that a military cooperation agreement was sealed in Tangier on 19 and 20 September, on the occasion of discussions between the French president and King Mohammed VI.

The Moroccan newspaper says that this alliance between Rabat and Paris is a reaction to Daesh consolidating its Moroccan and French fighters in a single unit whose members train in a camp in Raqqa. The large number of jihadists from the two countries is thought to be between 800 and 1000 for the French and 1200-1400 for Moroccans.

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Morocco Safer Than France ~ Aon Risk Assessment

The British multinational insurance brokerage company, Aon, last Thursday published its 2015 report titled ‘2015 Terrorism & Political Violence Risk Map’. It is credited by experts as being an accurate assessment

According to the report, the terrorist and political violence risk in Morocco is low. The Kingdom has improved its status as its risk index sank from moderate last year to low this year.

Aon, in its report published in the form of interactive map, ranked Morocco in the group of countries such as Canada, Spain, USA, South Africa, Australia, the United States, Norway, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Given Morocco's stability it was interesting to note that the Kingdom is ranked better than France,whose risk index has risen from low to moderate this year.

According to Aon, France suffers from a very worrying instability, resulting from three classes of threats: 1. Increased terrorist threats in the country (Daech, Al Qaeda). 2. Threats from separatist groups like the National Liberation Front of Provence which detonated a bomb in March 2014. 3. A political risk in the form of large anti-government protests, because of the decline in the popularity of socialist left.

In the Maghreb, Morocco is by far the safest country. Tunisia had an average risk rating, which could deteriorate because of the recent bombings in the country. Algeria, meanwhile, remains at high risk of terrorist acts and political violence in the region.

In a synopsis of the report, AON says of Morocco:

The overall score has been lowered from medium to low, but the perils of terrorism and unrest remain the same. There has not been a terrorist attack in the country since 2011. Although the government has announced the arrest of more than a hundred suspected jihadists since 2013, this is more an indication of state vigilance than an indication of increased threat. King Mohamed VI continues to enjoy political legitimacy and a strong public mandate to rule mitigating the risk of coup or insurrection.

All of which is good news for Morocco, its people and the tourist industry.

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Security in Morocco ~ Travel Forums Reflect Concerns

Concerns about security issues and recent events in France, Belgium and Germany have fuelled travellers' fears about safety. The most asked question, in relation to Morocco is: "is it safe to visit?"

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, many tourists wishing to visit soon in Morocco solicit
the opinions of several of online discussion sites such as TripAdvisor or Fodor to overcome their fears. The View from Fez also receives frequent questions on security and solo travel in Morocco.

The question that comes up most often is: "Can I get safely to Morocco after the French
attacks?" This is despite the blindingly obvious fact that Paris is some 3000 kilometres away!

Thankfully, most responses rightly point out that the attacks took place in France and terrorist risks relate more to France than Morocco. They also point out that Moroccans strongly condemn the recent attacks and has a valued reputation as a safe hospitable destination.

Other potential tourists seem anxious because they wrongly equated Moroccan people as supporters of ISIS. It can not be stated more clearly - the Moroccan government and the population despise radical groups and Moroccan Security has an ongoing and successful campaign against dissident elements.

On other sites as Routard.com, users are unanimously reassuring potential tourists by pointing out Morocco's stability and and control of security issues.

While it is true that nobody is able to predict where terrorists will strike, foreigners on
holiday or living in Morocco praise the efficiency of joint police and military patrols. See our story on Morocco's enhanced security plan "Hadar" HERE

Unfortunately, some foreign governments security warnings appear to be out of touch with the reality on the ground. While it is understandable that governments err on the side of caution, some are less than realistic in their assessments of conditions in Morocco.

The Australian "Smart Traveller" website that, despite recent events, has not been updated since October last year,  warns:

We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in Morocco because of the threat of terrorist attack against Western interests. Pay close attention to your personal security at all times and monitor the media for information about possible new safety or security risks.

There is a possibility of retaliatory attacks against Western targets in Morocco. The Moroccan authorities have warned of an increased threat linked to the number of Moroccans belonging to international terrorist organisations operating in Syria and Iraq.

We have received reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by tourists. Tourist areas have been attacked in the past.

You should monitor the media for reports of protest activity and avoid large gatherings and demonstrations as they may turn violent.

You should exercise particular caution on weekends, including in the period surrounding Friday prayers.

There is a general threat of kidnapping against Westerners in North Africa. You should maintain a high level of vigilance at all times and especially when travelling in southern and border areas of Morocco.

As an Australian resident in Morocco pointed out, "There have been no kidnappings of tourists in Morocco. However, the warning that appears to be the view from the embassy in Paris, it certainly is out of touch with the reality here in Morocco. Maybe they should come see for themselves."

In contrast, the American government travel warning website, lists problems in Libya, Mali, Syria. Ukraine and other hotspots, but makes no mention of Morocco as a country where tourists are more at risk than they are in any place.

Common sense dictates that travellers should always be alert but this applies just as much to Sydney, New York, London or Paris as it is does to Marrakech. Have a safe trip!

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Sunday Feature ~ Hadar: Morocco's New Security Plan

Morocco reacts to security threats with new plan - Hadar

The Moroccan counterterrorism policy is always procreative and based on available information, as is evident by the smashing of several terrorist networks by security forces, said Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad in a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar and Communication Minister Mustapha El Khalfi. But, as the Minister explained, there is more to do.

Mohamed Hassad, Salaheddine Mezouar and Mustapha Khalfif Hadar

The country already has a national anti-terror plan in place, but Moroccan authorities said it was insufficient and so the government has acted quickly to increase security. A new security plan has been launched to counter the threat posed by ISIS (known in Morocco as Daesh). The new security mechanism "Hadar" was launched on Monday at Casablanca's Mohammed V airport.

Senior government figures, Mohamed Hassad, Salaheddine Mezouar and Mustapha Khalfi held a press conference to explain the implementation of Hadar. Their airport conference came less than a fortnight after a Moroccan national, with his two young French daughters in tow, was arrested at Mohammed V International Airport en route to join the Daesh terrorist group.

Interior Minister, Mohamed Hassad, did not disclose the exact nature of the threats facing the country but Moroccan authorities have lately expressed their increasing concerns about Moroccan jihadists recruited to fight in Syria and Iraq and about their plans after they return from these trouble spots.

Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad

In Rabat last week the Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad said that Morocco does not face currently direct terrorist threats, underlining the general threats facing several countries “which should be taken into consideration in our security approach.”

To face up to any contingency, the government had already adopted a series of precautionary measures, including tightening controls at airports and along the country’s borders and amending anti-terrorism law. Under the new laws, those who join or try to join armed organisations inside or outside Morocco will face heavier sanctions ranging from 5 to 15 year prison terms and fines of up to $60,000.

According to official estimates disclosed this summer, the number of Moroccans and Moroccans holding a second nationality that have so far been recruited by jihadist groups, including the Daesh group (ISIS), exceeds 2,000.

Under the new plan further security improvements will be deployed at airports and train stations in the major cities. In addition tourist destinations and large public gatherings will also have added security to protect citizens from terrorist threats against Morocco by Daesh.

Hadar will provide additional security at airports and public places

While not all details of the plan have been made public, for obvious security reasons, what is known is that Hadar will include the deployment of members of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), the Royal Gendarmerie, the Police and the Auxiliary Forces.

In the first phase, Hadar will be deployed in the six major cities of Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, Fes, Tangier and Agadir and in the second phase Hadar will be extended to other regions of the country.

The government is wasting no time in implementing Hadar as was clear in Fez this weekend. The presence on the streets of the Fez Medina of armed members of FAR was met by curiosity by locals and visitors alike. The FAR members, operating in groups of three, appeared relaxed but vigilant. A shopkeeper on the Talaa Kbira, Hamid, told The View from Fez that anything the government did to keep the country safe from extremists was welcome. "Fez is peaceful now, humdullilah and we want it to always be that way, inshallah," he said.

The Hadar mechanism’s functioning will be supervised by a central unit based in the Interior Ministry and backed up by regional cells chaired by governors (walis).

The Moroccan media have been overwhelmingly supportive of the government's strategy. Magharebia site reports comments from security experts in its latest post and quotes political analyst Ahmed Bekkali.

Morocco wants to make sure that there are no weaknesses that can be exploited by terrorist networks, especially amid an international context characterised by the rise of extremism, political analyst Ahmed Bekkali said. In his view, it is necessary to combat not only terrorism but also the criminal organisations active in the Sahel or other regions, as all forms of illegal trafficking are connected.

According to Bekkali, Moroccan officials are aware of the scale of the threat faced by not only by the Kingdom but also several countries around the world, hence the need to boost international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, including through intelligence-sharing.

Moroccan police - alert but not alarmed

Experience shows that the Moroccan authorities are able to thwart the criminal manoeuvres of terrorists, student Hakima Berreh said.

This is demonstrated by the number of cells that have been caught in Morocco over the past few years thanks to the vigilance of the intelligence and national security services, she explained.

"The implementation of a new security plan can only reassure us, because we have confidence in the competence of our security services," she said.

Hadar in Fez "a new security plan can only reassure us"

For Ahmed Maniari, an employee, the decision to step up security means that the danger is real.

"That has been the feeling for several months now," he told Magahrebia. "Morocco is not immune to the threat posed by terrorists, especially those from Daesh, who want to spread their backward ideology," he said.

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Morocco Ramps Up Border Security

Military forces in Morocco have been increased on the border with Algeria, where yesterday a French citizen was beheaded by an Islamist group affiliated with ISIS

The Royal Gendarmerie has strengthened its positions at several border points in the south of Morocco, especially in the provinces of Smara, Laayoune and Dakhla, says Morocco World News. 

According to the Moroccan daily Al Massae, the General Command of the Royal Gendarmerie deployed reinforcements in the southern provinces aiming to increase the security at the kingdom’s borders with Algeria, after a jihadist group announced its allegiance to ISIS in Algeria.

The same source added that in addition to these measures, the Moroccan authorities are regularly carrying helicopter patrols along the borders to prevent any jihadists’ attempt from creeping into the Moroccan territories.

In response to the growing terrorist threats from the Sahel region, Morocco built 70-kilometer long fence equipped with electronic sensors to protect its territory against terrorist threats.

Herve Gourdel, 55, who was killed in Algeria 

The Algerian group “Jund al-Khilafa”, called Soldiers of the Caliphate, which pledges allegiance to the jihadist organization of the Islamic State (IS), kidnapped a French citizen, Herve Gourdel, aged 55, on Sunday September 21, in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria. Yesterday the group killed Mr Gourdel, 55, after its deadline for France to halt air strikes on ISIS in Iraq ran out.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the killing as a "cruel and cowardly" act.

He said that French air strikes which began on ISIS targets in Iraq last week would continue.

Speaking at the UN general assembly, Mr Hollande said that Mr Gourdel's abduction and decapitation was a barbaric act of terrorism which presented a problem not only for the region but also for the world.

He said the fight against terrorism should know no borders and that France was now in mourning.

For more on this, see Morocco World News and BBC News.


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Moroccan News Briefs #116

Government to "bury" Grand Taxis?

The government has rolled out a new initiative get rid of Morocco's Grand taxis or "white taxis" as they are called by most people. The taxis are all Mercedes Benz and according to the government a majority of vehicles are "wonky". In addition factories no longer exist in Germany or elsewhere, and have not done so for almost 20 years.

It is estimated that some 55,000 cars are still in service and carry millions of passengers in the four corners of the kingdom, but it is claimed that apart from accidents and fatalities, there big crime is pollution.

The owners and drivers of these taxis can expect compensation from the Benkirane government to acquire new cars that are both quieter and less polluting.

In order to encourage "this burial initiative", the government has signed an agreement with the Renault Dacia Moroccan factory which should lower the price by 10,000 dirhams for each vehicle, which should contain 8 seats instead of the 6 offered by Mercedes currently used.

Funding for this project will be through the reduction "Renault Dacia" 8,000 dirhams its selling price model "Renault Lodgy" (147,000 dirhams for sale) and 10,000 DHs Sales Price Model "Renault Trafic" . For its part, the government will contribute $50,000 DHs for both models.

The renewal of public transport vehicles should have a positive impact on the Compensation Fund, reducing energy costs while increasing the purchasing power of the taxi drivers, and without rising price of service.


"I'm Not A Chandelier! ~ Moroccan Women March For Gender Equality

On Tuesday, Moroccan women protested against Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane's remarks to Parliament, where he suggested that if "women went to work outside, the light went out of their homes"

Earlier this week, Moroccan women gathered outside the Parliament in Rabat to protest against comments made by Prime Minister Benkirane on the role and status of women in modern society. Benkirane, who is head of the Islamist coalition government in Morocco and leader of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), was condemned by critics and opposition parties for his speech last Tuesday, in which he said:

“Today, there is a problem with the role of women in Moroccan society. If Morocco is to model itself after the European example in regard to the role of women, women won’t find time to get married, to be mothers, or to educate their children. …Don’t you realise that when women went to work outside, the light went out of their homes?” Moroccan PM Benkirane

By claiming that Moroccan women belong in the household rather than in the workplace, he has received harsh criticism from activists, politicians and women’s organisations, and his statements even inspired the Twitter hashtag #AnaMachiTria (“I am not a chandelier“).


Moroccan Economic News

Morocco’s state planning agency said on Thursday that it expected economic growth to pick up to 3.7 percent in 2015, from 2.5 percent in 2014. The semi-autonomous agency, which released its annual figures before the government starts preparing next year’s national budget, forecast a 2014 deficit of 5.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, above the 4.9 percent predicted by the Islamist-led government.

The agency said the current account deficit would reach 7.4 percent of GDP in 2015, and public debt would rise to 67.6 percent of GDP. The agency said its 2015 forecasts assume a average agricultural harvest and that the government will stick to its investments policy and cut subsidies. It sees inflation rising to 1.7 percent in 2015 from 1.1 percent in 2014, and public debt reaching 67.6 percent of GDP against 66.4 percent in 2014 and 63.5 percent in 2013.

Morocco has gone further than most in the region in making painful changes required by international lenders, such as ending subsidies on gasoline and fuel oil prices and starting to cut diesel subsidies significantly. It has also promised tough decisions on pensions.


Six "jihadists" arrested in Fez 

A terror cell based in Fez that was busted earlier this week by authorities had managed to send at least 10 fighters to Syria, sources told Al Arabiya News Channel.

On Wednesday Morocco’s interior ministry said that police had arrested six people after busting a "terrorist" cell recruiting and sending volunteers to fight alongside Islamists in Syria and Iraq.

Sources told Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent that the ‘Fez cell’ had managed to send 10 “jihadists” to Syria. These were sent out to different camps for intensive military training on the use of various weapons, guerilla warfare, kidnapping, as well as rigging vehicles with explosives for later terrorist operations.

The sources said Moroccan jihadists in Syria were being trained to execute suicide attacks in their home country. The cell was luring Moroccans from the cities of Fez and Taza in central Morocco.

In terms of funding, the cell depended on direct assistance from six of its executive members who dealt in smuggling for additional funds in order to send fighters to Syria. The cell also collected money from the jihadist Salafist movement in Fez and from sympathizers from the northwest of the country.

In an unprecedented statement, Ahmad Toufi, the minister of Islamic Affairs, revealed that there was “perfect coordination between the religious and security authorities” on the matter of the Moroccan fighters in Syria.

The youngest member of the cell was allegedly a high-school student aged 17. Other members included a spare parts vendor for cars aged 30, a medical sales representative aged 34, a goldsmith aged 38, an unemployed man aged 39, and an Imam 34 who is a former detainee who has been previously charged in terrorism cases.


Fez Fashion Day

The 3rd edition of the Fez Fashion Day is an event dedicated to the talented fashion designers. It will be held Saturday, June 28, at 19h, Dar Batha, Residence of Artists of the French Institute Fez Morocco site.

For this edition, three designers mark their passage Dar Batha bright, Eric Raisina, France Madagascar, Morocco Kaoutar Yousefi, and I anan, Thailand Morocco, as well as the winners of the New School Style, who will present their work at the end of study under the watchful eyes of these great designers.

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News Briefs # 108

Aid Deal with Gulf States

Qatar and Morocco have signed an aid deal worth US $1.25 billion. It forms part of a package of financial assistance over five years from the wealthy Gulf states to Morocco, with the aim of helping it to weather the Arab Spring protests

The Emir of Qatar and King Mohammed VI have signed an aid deal

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to provide aid worth a total 5 billion dollars to Morocco until 2017 to build up its infrastructure, strengthen its economy and foster tourism.

Each of the four countries has committed 1.25 billion dollars to Morocco for the whole five year period.

King Mohammed VI signed an agreement last Friday with Emir of Qatar. The aid will be very welcome in order to reduce social discontent that helped to oust rulers elsewhere in North Africa, including Tunisia and Egypt.

Morocco is under heavy pressure from international lenders to reduce its budget deficit after spending heavily on food and energy subsidies and higher public sector salaries in 2011 and 2012, to help defuse social tensions.

Morocco has budgeted to receive a total 1 billion dollars in aid from the Gulf states for 2014. It hopes to cut its budget deficit to 4.9 percent of gross domestic product next year from an estimated 5.5 percent in 2013.

Qatar was the last of the four Gulf states to sign the aid accord with Morocco.

The Gulf states have agreed a similar package of aid, also worth a total 5 billion dollars over a five-year period, for Jordan.


China Plans Strategic Alliance with Morocco

China is also wooing Morocco - the latest in a line of US allies. Last Tuesday December 23 King Mohammed VI met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, who is on an official visit, at the Royal palace in Rabat

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi meets King Mohammed VI in Rabat

Officials said China has been planning a summit with Morocco in an effort to establish a strategic alliance. Morocco has found relations with Washington under President Barack Obama less than congenial. There has been tension over the US support for Algeria as well as efforts to undermine Rabat's control of the disputed Western Sahara.

The officials said the alliance could be formally launched during a visit by Moroccan King Mohammed to Beijing. “We welcome this invitation,” a Moroccan official said. The date has not yet been named for the visit.

At least 20 Chinese companies are operating in Morocco, with trade in 2012 reported to be around 300 million euro.


Terrorist Cell Dismantled

Moroccan authorities said on Thursday they had dismantled a “terrorist cell” operating in several cities that included people trained in the use of firearms and explosives

North Africa has been on heightened alert in recent years as regional jihadist groups have grown more powerful and as the turmoil in Libya following Muammar Qaddafi’s 2011 overthrow has left the vast and mostly desert region awash with weapons.

Morocco’s interior ministry said the operation had netted an individual who had been detained in the past on terrorism charges and who was now coordinating nationwide operations, including fundraising and recruiting militants.

The ministry did not specify the number of people arrested nor the cities in which the operation took place.

Morocco has announced the dismantling of several alleged terrorist cells this year, and authorities have expressed concern about the proliferation of extremist groups.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the global terror network’s North Africa affiliate, released a video in September calling for jihad in Morocco, which it referred to as a “kingdom of corruption and despotism.”

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Osama Bin Laden Dead - Reaction in Morocco

Osama bin Laden is dead. On Friday night President Obama personally gave the order to send in a small U.S. team by helicopter to a compound in a wealthy suburb in Abbottabad, 100km (62 miles) north-east of Islamabad. The team went in on Sunday and American operatives killed Osama bin Laden, his adult son and three others, including a woman used as a human shield during the firefight. His body has now been buried at sea by the Americans.

Pakistani officials were not told beforehand about the operation, which took less than 40 minutes. According to some sources an American helicopter that malfunctioned had to be destroyed, but no Americans were harmed in what was described as a high-risk raid.

"In the end it was the matchless skill and courage of these Americans that ensured the success of this operation," a senior intelligence official said, referring to the team that went in.

U.S. intelligence officials concluded Bin Laden and his family members were living at the high-walled compound after they identified its owners as a courier and his brother they knew were Bin Laden confidantes, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They found the property in August, and the CIA soon realized a high-value terrorist was being hidden there. Over months, analysts came to conclude that it might be Bin Laden.

The property was valued at $1 million with extraordinary security features, a senior intelligence official said. Its 12- and 18-foot walls were topped with barbed wire. Internal walls provided extra security. It had no Internet or telephone connection. And its resident burned trash rather than dumping it.

It was officials said, exactly the kind of place that would harbor Bin Laden. In fact, they said, the U.S believed the compound was built precisely for that purpose five years ago, although it remains unknown when exactly Bin Laden and his family arrived there.

The US has put its embassies around the world on alert, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing.

Crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington DC, chanting "USA, USA" after the news emerged.

Intelligence officials said they believed the death of Bin Laden was "the most significant achievement to date" in the war against Al Qaeda and that his death will put the organization on a "path to decline that will be difficult to reverse."

Despite the success of this raid, it raises some disturbing questions for Pakistan. The fact that Bib Laden could shelter only 10 kilometres from a high security military base and that he obviously had assistance in purchasing the compound raises issues about the ISI, the Pakistani intelligence service. Relations between the ISI and the Americans has been strained for years and it is expected this will deteriorate. The fact that this was an American attack deep inside Pakistan is also likely to raise tensions.

The news of Osama bin Laden's death has been welcomed in Morocco, although most reaction is muted as possible retaliation is considered a possibility.

"With Al Qaeda marginalized by the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, the risk of Mr. Bin Laden, the world’s most wanted fugitive, becoming a martyr capable of inspiring jihadists across the globe in death as much as he did while alive has been substantially diminished." - Al Arabiya News

For the United States, Mr. Bin Laden’s death may not constitute an end to the struggle against terrorism. It does, however, provide an opportunity for closure on the traumatic September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington—the first time foreign forces had successfully hit targets on American soil. His death also boosts US military and intelligence credibility at a time that US forces are struggling to gain the upper hand in Afghanistan and the US and its allies are increasingly locked into a protracted battle in Libya.

'This is the beginning of the end of al-Qaida', said one Fez resident. Others were more cautious, saying that the fact the killing was done by Americans could cause a backlash. "It is a pity that the Pakistani government did not do this thing." The fact that Osama's body, which the Americans have, was treat according to Islamic tradition was seen as sensible. However, the rapid burial at sea is also questioned as to whether it is within Islamic tradition. The idea behind the sea burial had obviously been thought out in advance in order to avoid the creation of a shrine for bin Laden's followers.

The Moroccan government was not briefed by the Americans before the raid in Pakistan and have so far made no comment. It is expected that, given the tragic bombing in Marrakech, they will also welcome the news.

Overall the feelings of relief are mixed with apprehension as people feel that al-Qaida has long outgrown its leader. "There are many different al-Qaida groups and cutting off the head of one may spawn others," said Hamid, a stall holder in Fez. "The fight will go on until we convince these ignorant people that their actions are not Islam and are hurting Islam's children'.

King Mohammed VI visits Marrakech

In the aftermath of the bomb blast on Friday, HRH King Mohammed VI visited the Argana Cafe in Djemaa el Fna, Marrakech medina, on Saturday afternoon. He was accompanied by HRH Prince Moulay Ismail.

Sayer Taoufik, Head of Police Forensics, talks to HM the King

There were huge crowds on Djemaa el-Fna awaiting the arrival of the monarch, waving flags and pictures in support of his visit.

'This was a very important visit for the people of Marrakech', said Kerstin Brand who lives in the city.

'After the King left, all the barriers were taken away and the stalls came out on Djemaa el-Fna, so life returns to normal', continued Kerstin.

After viewing the Argana on the square and talking to the forensics team, HM the King visited the injured at the Ibn Tofail Hospital in Marrakech.

All photos except the top one: Kerstin Brand in Marrakech

Marrakech bomb has all the hallmarks of al-Qaida - Moroccan Interior Minister

According to Taib Cherqaoui, Morocco's interior minister, the Marrakech bombing has all the hallmarks of an al-Qaida attack

16 people have died and 25 people were injured, 14 of them hospitalized.

The bomb was triggered remotely and packed with nails. Some were found at the scene of the blast, others in the bodies of victims, Cherqaoui said.

"The manner reminds us of the style used generally by al-Qaida," Cherqaoui said. "And this leads us to think that there is a possibility of more dangers to come."

No one has claimed responsibility for Morocco's deadliest attack since 2003.

Fourth terrorist blows himself up

The latest news fom the Moroccan security services is that a fourth member of the alleged terrorist group that the Police was chasing early Tuesday in al Fida neighborhood of Casablanca for alleged involvement in the March 11 bombing, blew himself up late last night, injuring five people.

This brings to four the number of alleged terrorists killed in al Fida neighborhood. A first suspect blew himself up early Tuesday when he was about to be arrested while the second died of injuries after being shot by Police during the manhunt.

A third member blew himself up in the afternoon, killing a policeman and injuring another, according to the same sources.

The two alleged terrorists killed, early morning, during the police chase were later identified as Mohamed Rachidi (aka "Salah" and "Mustapha") and Mohamed Mentala (aka "Warda").

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