GCC membership isn’t meant to help Moroccan economy!

In an official statement, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry welcomed the council’s invitation “with a great interest.” However, it affirmed Morocco’s commitment to the Arab Maghreb Union an economic union with Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and its readiness to hold consultations with the GCC to create an ideal framework for cooperation, with no reference to membership.

Morocco’s free-trade agreements with the European Union and the United States, its strategic geographic position, and its large human and agricultural resources could explain the GCC’s interest. Yet, Gulf countries can benefit from these advantages without Morocco’s membership in the GCC. Other forms of shallow integration, such as a free-trade zone, would be enough.

A more likely reason for the council’s interest is its desire to influence the course of reforms launched within the non-oil monarchies. Under the pressure of the street, non-oil monarchies in Morocco and Jordan announced broad political reforms, including constitutional revisions. Instead, Gulf monarchies, with comfortable fiscal positions from oil revenues, granted generous benefits to their subjects and pay raises to their civil servants. The ability of the Gulf monarchies to finance themselves with oil revenues enables them to resist strong pressure to reform.

The social contract between the king and his people in Morocco is different. Morocco’s state revenues come from taxes, which represent a quarter of the country’s GDP. Revenue-seeking monarchs need to favour representative institutions.

Even if Morocco decided to join the GCC, it would be hard to imagine that its membership could be an acceptable motive to postpone political reforms. Any attempt to keep the status quo in Morocco by extending generous benefits to its large and relatively poor population would be costly and could fail.

Instead, the Gulf States could learn from non-oil monarchies by engaging in reforms that grant more liberties to and invite broader participation from their populations. Doing so will make them more secure and prosperous in the long term. If the GCC countries overcome the reform phobia, their council can be more than a “club for monarchies.” It can play a pioneering political role in the region and contribute to economic transition in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and the rest of the Arab states. Such a role would help make the GCC truly an engine for Arab regional integration.

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