Moroccan dies of wounds sustained in protests

By PAUL SCHEMM Associated Press

Posted: 06/02/2011 01:43:10 PM PDT

Updated: 06/02/2011 02:39:15 PM PDT

RABAT—A member of Morocco's main opposition Islamist group died Thursday from wounds sustained during a pro-reform demonstration several days earlier, a spokesman for the movement said.
Khaled al-Amari, 30, died in a hospital after being beaten at a protest in the southern city of Safi on Sunday, part of a weekly series of demonstrations calling for greater freedoms in the North African monarchy, Mohammed Aghnaj, of the Justice and Charity movement, told The Associated Press.
Al-Amari is the seventh person to die since anti-government protests began in Morocco three months ago, he added.
"He was beaten in several places and after he went home he began to really feel the effects," Aghnaj said.
The state news agency, MAP, however, quoted local authorities, which denied his death was related to the beating he received in the demonstrations.
Al-Amari died "after cardiac arrest resulting from pneumonia at the Mohammed V hospital where he was taken in the morning," the news agency quoted an anonymous government official as saying.
The royal prosecutor at the Safi court of appeals has ordered an investigation into the cause of death and an autopsy will be carried out, the report added.
The Islamist organization, known by its Arabic name al-Adl wal Ihsan, is calling for an Islamic state in Morocco and is banned from politics. The group provided photos of the victim showing him battered and bruised, as well as a picture of his death certificate.
Morocco's February 20 movement, a loose coalition of organizations spanning the political spectrum from left wing activists to conservative Islamists, has been staging regular protests calling for constitutional reforms to lessen the power of Morocco's absolute monarch. It wrote about al-Amari's death on its Facebook page.
On March 9, King Mohammed VI announced the formation of a constitutional committee to draw up amendments to address many of the complaints put forward by the February 20 movement.
Those recommendations will be announced some time this month, but the youth activists who staged the demonstrations that helped spark the reform movement refused to meet with the constitutional committee because it was just appointed by the king.
Security forces have demonstrated a new zero tolerance policy for demonstrations by February 20 activists. For the past three weeks, any gatherings by the group have been violently dispersed by club wielding police, resulting in dozens of wounded.
The London-based rights group, Amnesty International, on Thursday condemned the use of force by Moroccan police against protesters.

"What we are witnessing is a draconian response to people merely exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly," the statement said, adding that scores of protesters have been assaulted by security forces in recent weeks.

U.S. citizen stuck in Kuwait

By Associated Press
The words hit Aziz Nouhaili like a smack in the face: After the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait confiscated his passport, an official told him he should no longer think of himself himself a U.S. citizen.

For nearly four months Nouhaili, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Morocco, has been trying to get home from Kuwait, where he worked for several years as a military contractor. So far, U.S. officials have refused to relent, continuing to keep him in Kuwait while they consider whether to revoke his citizenship over a decades-old passport problem.

"Being a U.S. citizen is a beautiful thing. It's something I'm not planning to give up that easily," Nouhaili, 47, said in a phone interview Thursday describing the bureaucratic nightmare that has taken life.

On Thursday, Nouhaili's lawyer with the Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote a letter to secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting that Nouhaili be given his passport so he can return home.

"American citizenship is too important to be subject to the whims of low level bureaucrats," his lawyer Gadeir Abbas, wrote in the letter. "If there are any concerns about my client's citizenship, he has the right to have those concerns addressed through the judicial process once he returns to the United States."

The hitch appears to be a passport problem that Nouhaili had more than two decades ago, before becoming a citizen. Nouhaili admits he provided false information to try and obtain a passport. But he cooperated with an investigation and was never charged.

Subsequent to that, he became a U.S. citizen in 1999 after marrying a U.S. citizen. He lived in New york and later in Eugene, Ore., until 2004 when he took the job in Kuwait. He planned to return home earlier this year and start a new job in Las Vegas. His wife and youngest daughter, who were with him in Kuwait, were allowed to return to the U.S. and did so. they are now in Tunisia, where the wife has family.

Nouhaili said he talks with his family daily on Skype.

"She doesn't understand what's going one," he said of his 8-year-old daughter. "She says, 'Why aren't you here?'"

Abbas said that if the government wants to revoke Nouhaili's citizenship over the old passport matter, it has to do so in a federal court and give Nouhaili his due process rights.

CAIR has frequently intervened in cases where American Muslims have been stuck overseas. Most often, Abbas said, the cases revolve around placement on the no-fly list, which is not an issue in Nouhaili's case.

In 2007, they helpd bring a toddler to the U.S. who had been stuck for two years in Morocco becuase his name, Ahmedyassine, was similar to the founder of Hamas.

More recently, they helped secure the return of two young men from Virginia, Yahya Wehelie and Gulet Mohamed, whose separate travels to Yemen drew scrutiny from the FBI and landed them on the no-fly list. In Mohamed's case, U.S. officials quickly made arrangements for ohamed to return to the U.S. after a judge said at an initial emergency hearing that Mohamed's inability to return to the U.S. appeared to be a "clear violation" of his rights.

Mohamed, like Nouhaili, was stuck in Kuwait. In Nouhaili's case, though, there is no indication that authorities have any concerns about radicalism or terrorism — Nouhaili has worked without incident for several years for a military contractor in Kuwait, and Nouhaili said he has not been questioned about anything other that the passport.

Still, Abbas said he doubts that Nouhaili would be be having these problems if he weren't a Muslim.

"We don't have any definitive evidence but I doubt the embassy would be taking such drastic actions if he were of a different faith," Abbas said.

Incidents such as these affect the whole Muslim community, Abbas said, because Muslims worry that they could easily fall into a bureaucratic abyss.

Abbas said he intends to file a federal lawsuit if the State Department continues to refuse to let Nouhaili travel.

The State Department on Thursday referred calls to its Bureau of Consular Affirs, which did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Calls and e-mails to the Department of Homeland Security, which is conducting the investigation of Nouhaili's citizenship, were not returned.

By Associated Press  |  03:28 PM ET, 06/02/2011 

MOROCCO URGED TO END VIOLENT CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTS

Morocco has seen continuing demonstrations since 20 February

© APGraphicsBank

2 June 2011
Moroccan authorities must not use excessive force against protesters, Amnesty International said today, as activists called for renewed pro-reform demonstrations  across the country on Sunday.

Scores of protesters in Morocco have been physically assaulted by security forces in recent weeks.

Seven protesters are still detained in Tangiers and face criminal charges in relation to their participation in protests.

“What we are witnessing is a draconian response to people merely exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly”, Amnesty International said.

“The Moroccan security forces must not repeat the same mistakes that they have made in recent weeks, where peaceful protests were subject to a violent crackdown, “the organization added.

The Moroccan authorities have been under pressure to respond to demands for political and human rights reform, following continuing demonstrations since 20 February inspired by events in North Africa.

Those taking part included political activists, members of human rights organizations and members of the "20 February Movement", which calls for reform in Morocco, inspired by similar movements for change in the region.

On 28 and 29 May, protests demanding political and social reform and an end to corruption continued in several cities, including Kenitra, Safi, Fes, Tangiers, Casablanca and Salé.

The protests were mainly peaceful. However, Amnesty International has received numerous testimonies about scores of protesters who were physically assaulted by security forces wearing uniforms as well as civilian clothes. They were beaten with truncheons and sticks and kicked. Several victims, including women and children, sustained head and facial injuries.

In Safi, ten men were reportedly arrested by the security forces, taken to cars, physically assaulted and taken to remote areas where they were abandoned. Many of them returned back home on foot with serious injuries.

On 25 May, about 8,000 doctors gathered in a sit-in in Rabat in front of the Ministry of Health and wanted to march to the parliament. The security forces reportedly physically assaulted them with truncheons and kicked them. At least 40 sustained different injuries. A 43-year-old doctor underwent surgery for a broken pelvis.

Amnesty International has also received reports that the security forces have been visiting families of activists from the "20 February Movement", intimating and threatening them.

Amnesty International continues to receive information that some protesters treated in government-run hospitals have been denied copies of medical reports detailing their injuries, potentially obstructing their efforts to obtain justice and reparation.

In March a number of reforms were announced, among them a new National Human Rights Council. King Mohammed VI also promised a plan of constitutional reform, as well as giving up some of some his political power.

However, the breaking up of demonstrations is a serious blow to the ostensible promise of reform.

Domestic issues in Egypt and Tunisia appear to be impacting Morocco’s tourism; Arik Air capacity up 28%

Uncongested: South African President Jacob Zuma is the only passenger at Tripoli Airport on Monday – unrest has had an unsurprising effect on North African traffic, but for the African continent as a whole, five of the top 10 country markets are reporting double-digit growth, helping African airports as a whole to report a 3.7% increase in seat capacity (although South Africa is up only 1%).

The civil unrest in Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year have, not surprisingly, had a measurable impact on capacity provided by airlines operating in these countries. This week, anna.aero takes a close look at how capacity this June compares with last June across Africa, looking at individual countries, airlines and airports.

Source: OAG Max Online for w/c 6 June 2011 and w/c 7 June 2010

After the euphoria of hosting last summer’s football World Cup, capacity at South African airports is up less than 1%. Capacity at Egyptian and Tunisian airports is down 9.3% and 13.3% respectively, but another North African country heavily reliant on in-bound tourism, Morocco, is also reporting a drop in scheduled capacity, this time of 3.3%.

However, five of the top 10 country markets are reporting double-digit growth, helping African airports as a whole to report a 3.7% increase in seat capacity compared with last June. Tanzania (+30.2%), Sudan (+23.5%), Kenya (+22.3%), Nigeria (+12.4%) and Ethiopia (+11.9%) have all seen impressive gains in scheduled seat capacity during the last 12 months.

SAA, Egyptair and Royal Air Maroc all reporting capacity cuts

While capacity for all airlines serving Africa may be up almost 4%, the top three airlines (South African Airways, Egyptair and Royal Air Maroc) are all reporting notable capacity reductions compared with last June.

Source: OAG Max Online for w/c 6 June 2011 and w/c 7 June 2010

For the second year running, the fastest growing of the top 10 airlines is Arik Air of Nigeria, which has jumped two further places from eighth to sixth. Its scheduled capacity is up almost 30%, after growing by 50% the previous year. British Airways appears primarily because of its franchise agreement with South African carrier Comair to operate domestic and regional international routes. On the other hand, Air France’s ranking is down purely to links from France, mostly to North African destinations such as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Addis Ababa and Nairobi report double-digit growth

Analysis of schedule data by airport reveals that capacity is down at the top two airports (Johannesburg and Cairo) and unchanged at Lagos. Only two of the top 10 airports have reported double-digit growth, Addis Ababa and Nairobi, helped by the growth of their national flag carriers Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways.

Source: OAG Max Online for w/c 6 June 2011 and w/c 7 June 2010

According to OAG, there are now 344 airports in the whole of Africa with scheduled commercial services, up from 320 when anna.aero last conducted a similar analysis just over a year ago.

INTERNATIONAL: Shakira Empowers Women Through Her Music and Experiences

Date: 6/2/2011 8:48:01 AM  |  SR Staff
Filed under: The Alternative, Shakira

At the 2011 Festival Mawazine in Rabat, Morocco, Shakira, who was born in Colombia and has Syrian ancestry, encouraged the women of Morocco by saying, “Women should follow their dreams and believe in themselves.”

This speaks volumes for the Islamic women that have faced oppression. Her performance was liberating for not only the women of Morocco but also for the men. Who would ever think dance could bring so much freedom and hope to people?

Along with empowering women, Shakira has no shame bolstering her vulnerability; something she does in her relationships.

It is no secret that the beginning of a relationship is what people call the “honey mooning period.” It’s the time when everything seems to be great, you rarely notice your partner’s flaws and you’re constantly having the case of the butterflies when you kiss, touch or even hug.

It seems Shakira has a case of the honeymoon fever for boyfriend and soccer star Antonio de La Rua. A reporter asked Shakira during her Mawazine Festival press conference what vitamins she took to enable her to perform with such energy. Shakira, who closed the festival on Saturday night, says “I use the vitamins of love and when you are happy you have the energy for anything.”

It seems after La Rua’s soccer win on the same night of Shakira’s over-crowded performance, he may have scored another goal and she probably loved the vitamins.

Afcon 2012 qualifying preview: Morocco – Algeria

The Atlas Lions will look to capitalize on their home advantage and take revenge for the loss they suffered in Annaba in March.

By Rami Ayari

Jun 2, 2011 6:00:00 AM

Biggest test yet for Gerets and his Lions
Anyone who looked at Group D after the draw and figured that the 2012 African Cup of Nations race would be dominated by Morocco and Algeria was off the mark. After three games played, the two favorites from the Maghreb are surprisingly in third and fourth place.

For the Atlas Lions, their meager standing is primarily due to their faulty start to qualifying, when they failed to get past a stubborn Central African Republic team in Rabat.

Some have pointed to Eric Gerets’ late arrival as the main reason for the disappointment, but the players had to face Tanzania without him as well, and came back with all three points from Dar es Salaam. The side then headed to Annaba where it looked offensively inept despite all its possession against a better organized and seemingly more motivated Algeria side in Gerets’ first qualifier at the helm.

Now the coach is under a considerable amount of pressure, as a loss in Marrakesh would essentially mean that Morocco would have to rely on favors from other sides in order to qualify and avoid missing a second Cup of Nations in a row.

In dire need of a win, the Belgian tactician hasn’t hesitated in ratcheting up the intensity by admitting that if he fails to lead Morocco to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea then the Moroccan Royal Football Federation (FRMF) would be legally free to sack him per the conditions in his contract.

The majority of football fans in the north African kingdom don’t want to see that happen, as most agree that Gerets is doing a fine job and that improvements are starting to show. If his players want him to stick around and continue the revival he’s been tasked with, then it’s up to them to win at all cost. Individual flair and pretty build up play won’t count for much if the Atlas Lions fall flat like they did in Annaba.

The Fennecs look to outfox their neighbors again

Much like its upcoming opponent, Algeria stumbled out of the gates of Afcon qualifying when it came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Jan Poulsen’s Tanzania in Blida. After a rather underwhelming 2010 World Cup campaign during which the team didn’t score a single goal, the result proved to be former Fennecs coach Rabah Saadane’s last game in charge, as he was sacked by the Algerian Football Federation (FAF).

His replacement, Abdelhak Ben Chikha, followed that up with a nightmare start of his own when his men collapsed in the late stages of an away match against the Central African Republic. The 2-0 loss ended up being a catalyst for the Fennecs, who knew that another letdown against Morocco would not only drop them out of qualifying contention, but would also likely bring Ben Chikha’s time with the national team to an undesired premature end.

Determined to stave off elimination and save the manager’s job, an under-staffed Algeria battled to an ugly, but precious win against Morocco. Now, in the return fixture, the team is benefiting from more offensive manpower, and will look to use its counter-attacking threats to good effect in Marrakesh.

Speaking to the media prior to the crucial match, Ben Chikha has made it clear that although the points are extremely important to both nations, he wants to see fair play prevail and for Algerian and Moroccan ties to remain strong no matter the result at the end of 90 minutes.

TEAM NEWS

Morocco

Unfortunately for the Atlas Lions, some of their players are limping into this match. It’s already been confirmed that Wydad midfielder Mohamed Berrabeh will miss the qualifier due to injury. Perhaps more worryingly, both Nancy-Lorraine’s Michael Basser and Anzhi Makhachkala’s Mbark Boussoufa are also possible absences.

Probable starting XI: Nadir Lamyaghri; Mehdi Benatia, Badr El Kaddouri, Abdelhamid El Kouatri, Jamal Allioui; Adil Hermach, Younes Belhanda, Houcine Kharja, Adel Taarabt; Marouane Chamakh, Youssouf Hadji.

Algeria

Unlike the previous match between these two, this time around Ben Chikha does not have any serious injury concerns to contend with. Rafik Djebbour had a slight tweak in his adductor muscle, but scans have revealed nothing serious. Meanwhile, both Rais Mbolhi and Mehdi Mostefa were rested, but are expected to be available come matchday.

Probable starting XI: Rais Mbolhi; Mehdi Mostefa, Madjid Bougherra, Antar Yahia, Nadir Belhadj; Medhi Lacen, Hassan Yebda, Foued Kadir, Karim Ziani, Ryad Boudebouz; Rafik Djebbour

PREDICTION

It’s not quite a make or break affair, but it almost is and sparks usually fly in north African derbies of this magnitude. Look for Morocco to press early and often in search of the all-important first goal that evaded it in Annaba. This time around, expect Morocco to get on the score-sheet, but Ben Chikha’s players are solid enough to do the same and pull out a draw, a decent result considering the caliber of the opponent.

Morocco 1-1 Algeria

The New Club of Arab Monarchies

By PIERRE RAZOUX
Published: June 1, 2011

The proposal to enlarge the Gulf Cooperation Council to Jordan and Morocco, made at a council summit meeting in Riyadh last month , marks a profound change in the nature of the organization as it reaches its 30th anniversary. This decision, which went practically unnoticed in the West, is all the more worthy of attention in that it is likely to usher in long-term changes in the region’s political scenario.

Initially set up to provide a safeguard against an Iranian military threat and to create regional economic integration in the Arabian peninsula, the Gulf Cooperation Council has moved away from its early agenda and now operates as a club for the Arab monarchies.

The council’s aim is simple: to defend by all means possible the region’s eight monarchic regimes. It fears that the fall of even a single monarchy could have irreversible consequences for all the rest, undermining the legitimacy of the reigning families and opening the gates to all those in the Arab world who are looking for more liberty, justice and equality. This is why the Gulf monarchies have intervened to quash the popular uprising in Bahrain.

Today, it is Jordan and Morocco that are seen as the weak links in this chain of interests. Both monarchies are highly in debt and face considerable social unrest. This is why the countries of the G.C.C. — Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar — have extended a hand to Kings Abdullah II and Mohammed VI.

The council’s initiative is a clear sign of the panic sweeping the royal courts in the Gulf, particularly in Riyadh. The Saudi royal family has had to come to terms with the power of the Arab Spring, which has exceeded all expectations. The rise in popular discontent could reach dangerous levels in the Arabian peninsula if the Yemenites manage to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Saudi government is trying at all costs to prevent his fall — and also pledging its support to Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad.

Another important consideration is the fact that the containment of Iran no longer seems to be a priority for the international community. The fall of Hosni Mubarak brought the curtain down on the alliance between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Egyptian generals now seem to be turning more toward Ankara and Tehran, snubbing Riyadh.

Moreover, the Obama administration is no longer perceived as giving its unconditional support to the Saudi regime. The way Washington left the autocratic regimes of Tunisia and Egypt to their fate frightens the princes of the Gulf states, who know that they do not enjoy great popular support among the Arab peoples. Though the Gulf monarchies account for only a tenth of the total Arab population, they hold half its wealth. By bringing Jordan and Morocco into the fold, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council hope to reinforce their strength both demographically (22 percent of the Arab population) and economically (58 percent of Arab G.D.P.).

Another advantage for Saudi Arabia is that it can count on the complete support of Jordan and Morocco within the council and thereby increase its political clout at the expense of its rival Qatar.

What are the potential advantages for Jordan and Morocco? Both monarchies stand to gain massive financial assistance and precious political support. In exchange, they will declare allegiance to the Gulf monarchies and undertake to uphold them in all circumstances, even to the point of having to send armed forces to maintain order and security in the Gulf. It is thus not inconceivable that Jordanian troops might intervene in Saudi Arabia to quell a popular uprising there. Finally, the kings of Jordan and of Morocco are likely to find that they have to limit the scope of the democratic reforms they are preparing to implement, so as not to offer the peoples of the Gulf states a worrying precedent.

All told, this enlargement — which also serves the interests of the Israeli government in that it reinforces the Jordanian monarchy and increases the isolation of the Palestinians — accentuates regional antagonisms. It marginalizes Yemen, isolates Iraq, and aggravates the frustration of Palestinians and other Arabs.

The initiative taken by the Gulf Cooperation Council is not necessarily consistent with the course that history is taking. Given that President Obama has spoken out firmly in support of the Middle East peace process and the move toward democratization in the Arab world, the council’s efforts could be the precursor to a political crisis between the United States and Saudi Arabia. If so, that would indeed prove to be a major revolution.

Pierre Razoux is a senior research adviser at the NATO Defense College.