FOM Newsletter April 2003
Morocco Week in Review 
April 19 2003

Ms. Tutwiler's Iraq Mission Temporary, She Keeps Post as US Ambassador to Morocco (State Department)
Between 1,000 and 1,500 Moroccan children affected by cancer annually
US Mosaic Foundation donates us $800.000 to arab micro-credits programs
Farming-usage dams filled up to 62% of capacity
Rain Boosts Morocco hopes of big cereal crops.
Morocco's overall citrus fruits exports grow by 6%
Morocco's trade deficit reaches 48% end of February 2003
Port traffic in Morocco to increase by 3.9% in 2003
Serial on life of famed Muslim conqueror shot in Morocco
Rapid sea line to be opened between Morocco, Spain
Some 250 artists to take part in Fez festival of world sacred music, president
Moroccan Official Announces "Deep Revision" of Communal Warding
Morocco unveils plan to develop energy sector
Human rights council reaffirms commitment to autonomy and independence
Italian credit available for Moroccan SMEs
Magazine Publisher Victim of Legal Harassment
Moroccan government appropriates $ 10 million to settle street hawkers
Moroccan painter awarded French distinction
Over 44,000 audio tapes and 5,000 cds seized in Tangier
Fisheries office gets i-connection network with regional delegations
Morocco's mining sales decreases by 3.4% in 2002
Moroccan-born US marine refuses to fight 

Ms. Tutwiler's Iraq Mission Temporary, She Keeps Post as US Ambassador to Morocco (State Department)

WASHINGTON, April 14 - The US State Department on Monday said the mission ofMs. Margaret Tutwiler in Iraq is temporary and the latter will remain US ambassador to Morocco. The mission of Ms. Tutwiler in Iraq is to take care of US public relations in this country, said Philip Reeker, spokesman of the State Department,  adding the diplomat should travel to Iraq shortly. Ms. Tutwiler's appointment reflects "the great importance" the US government gives to the mission entrusted to her, the spokesman added.

http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm 

Between 1,000 and 1,500 children are annually affected by various forms of cancer annually, and only 700 to 7500 are admitted in cancer hospitals in Rabat and Casablanca. The figures were announced Monday by Fouzia Mseffer Alaoui from the association of parents and friends of cancer-affected children "Avenir" at a press conference. She said that in developed countries, four children out of five are cured from cancer, stressing that the two cancer hospitals in Rabat and Casablanca have become too small and inappropriate to treat adequately the increasing number of cancer patients. Only 60 children were admitted in these hospitals in 1983 and the number grows to 450 in 2001. She also noted the poor rate of health insurance-covered children, as only 17% have a health insurance and 60% are destitute. In order to treat blood cancers, she urged for carrying out a program, proposed by her association, to build a 3,081 square meter-facility neighboring the child hospital of Rabat and increase the health teams and budget. The project, also supported by the health ministry and the Rabat hospital school of Ibn Sina, requires an overall budget of 20,5 million DH (US$ 2.05 million). "Avenir" association which lives on voluntary donations projects to intensify its fund-raising activities. A telethon on Moroccan TV channel 2M was scheduled for this April 29 but had to be put off to a later date because of war in Iraq.

US resort group, Kerzner international, was short-listed to carry out the Mazagan sea resort (near El Jadida) on the Atlantic Ocean. Kerzner international, that develops and operates premier casinos, resorts and luxury hotels, will be negotiating with the Moroccan government terms of an agreement to regulate the development of the Mazagan sea resort, one of the Azur program's six sea resorts projected nationwide. The US company, whose flagship destination is Atlantis, a 2,317-room, ocean-themed resort located on Paradise Island, in The Bahamas, has an annual sales of US$ six billion. It is quoted on Wall Street and is considered as one of the world's leading companies in developing "destination resort" products. The selection commission also chose as a spare developer "Maroc Hotels and Villages," an affiliate of Moroccan state-owned "Caisse de depot et degestion" (CDG), a fund-managing institution. CDG, which already develops several major tourism projects in Morocco, will be taking over in case negotiations with Kerzner international fail.

US Mosaic Foundation donates us $800.000 to Arab micro-credits programs

US Mosaic Foundation disbursed on Wednesday US $800.000 to fund micro-credits programs in Arab states, through the Grameen Foundation USA. Micro-credit, or more broadly, micro-finance, is an anti-poverty strategy that centers around providing tiny loans, often under $100, to very poor people (mostly women), to allow them to earn additional income by investing in the establishment or expansion of "micro-businesses" such as raising livestock, food processing, tailoring and hundreds of other enterprises. The donation, handed over to Grameen Foundation's founder, Mohammad Yunus, during a fund-raising dinner organized by Mosaic Foundation in Washington, will be used to fund projects in Morocco, Tunis, Mauritania, Egypt, Djibouti and Lebanon. The Mosaic Foundation was founded in 1998 by the spouses of seventeen Arab Ambassadors in Washington DC and it was dedicated to improving the lives of women and children across the world. The humanitarian organization has since its creation given more than US $4.2million to different charities. Grameen Foundation USA, working in partnership with the Grameen Bank, was established in 1997 to provide financing, technical assistance and technology support to the growing numbers of grassroots institutions in several countries. Founded by Mohammed Yunus, Grameen Bank is specialized in micro-credits and it has given so far more than 2.5 million to small borrowers, mostly women.

The volume of water stored in dams destined for farming usage reached 8 billion cubic meters, which is 62% of their capacity, compared to 45% in the same period of last year. According to the agriculture and rural development ministry, the filling rate stands at 91% in some dams and does not exceed 8% in others. The total volume of rainfalls nationwide up to April 1st reached 362 mm, against 298 mm recorded in an average year.

RABAT, April 15 (Reuters) - Generous April rainfalls have raised Morocco's hopes of a bumper cereals crop this year, increasing the likelihood of lower wheat imports in the 2003-2004 campaign. A senior agriculture ministry official said a harvest estimate would be available next month. In the 2001/2002 campaign 5.0 million tonnes of cereals were harvested, of which half was soft wheat. "The least that we can say is that this campaign is above average, so the minimum 6.0 million tonnes target will be met," the official, who declined to be named, said. "Both the timing and the amount of rainfalls have so far been generally satisfactory this campaign, which was not the case for last year," he told Reuters. Business weekly La Vie Economique said last week that the cereals harvest would reach 7.0 million tonnes while Al-Ittihad Al Ichtiraki newspaper on Tuesday suggested it might be 6.4 million tonnes.The ministry official was more optimistic. "This year's campaign is set to be the second best of the decade (1993-2003) after the 1995/1996 campaign," he said. But he pointed out that the area planted to cereals in the 1995/1996 campaign, which saw a record 9.3 million tonnes harvest, was 10 percent higher and general conditions then were "slightly better" than the current campaign. The area planted to cereals this year was 5.1 million hectares (12.6 million acres), including 1.8 million hectares for soft wheat. Officials have said that a 7.0 million tonnes cereals harvest would mean a 1.0 million tonnes drop in imports of soft wheat alone. The North African country, a major importer of cereals, needs some 4.5 million tonnes of soft wheat each year. A large cereals crop means strong growth in the economy as agriculture employs 40 percent of the 10-million workforce and contributes up to a fifth of the country's Gross Domestic Product. Authorities, encouraged by prospects of a good cereals harvest, have set a 5.5 percent economic growth target for 2003. But conflict in Iraq has pushed independent think-tank CMC to argue for a 4.1 percent growth figure based on a cereals harvest of 6.5 to 7.0 million tonnes. ((Reporting by Souhail Karam, editing by Anthony Barker. Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com ))

Morocco's overall citrus fruits exports grow by 6%

Morocco, Economics, 4/12/2003

Morocco's overall citrus fruits exports grew by 6% up to this April 2, as compares to the previous season, says the agriculture and rural development ministry. Some 55% are grown in the south-western region of Souss, followed by the eastern (25%) and the central region (20%). The source also says the overall exports of early fruits reached 286,000 tons, marking a slight increase of 2% while tomato exports regressed by 9% compared to the 2001-2002 farming season. With 23,000 tons, potato exports regressed by 29% while exports of various other fruits and vegetables went up by 19% to stand at 97,000 tons.

Morocco's Trade deficit increased to 47.9 percent by end of the two first months of 2003, after exports dropped by 9.4 percent and imports increased by 4.7 percent, the exchange office said. Moroccan exports were estimated at 13.19 billion DHs (US$ 1.3 billion) by end of February 2003, in comparison to 14.57 billion Dhs (US $1.45 billion) during the same period last year, i.e. a 9.4 percent drop. Apart from exports of phosphate and byproducts that progressed by 6.5 percent from 2.16 billion Dhs (US $0.216 billion) by end of the first two months of 2002 to 2.30 billion Dhs (US $0.23 billion) end of February this year, all other exports regressed by 12.2 percent to stand at 10.81 billion Dhs (US $1.08 billion) in 2003 against 12.40 billion Dhs (US $1.24 billion) during the same period last year. The exchange office noted that food products exports also dropped by 33.6 percent, energy products by 75.1 percent, mineral raw products by 17.4percent and industrial gold by 9.2 percent. Exports of finished consumption products and animal and vegetable raw products remained stable whereas exports of equipment goods progressed by 41 percent and semi-finished products by 10.5 percent. Imports were estimated at 20.22 billion Dhs (US $2.02 billion) by end of February 2003 against 19.32 billion Dhs at the same period last year, that is a 4.7 percent increase, said the same source. The increase is due to a 10.2 percent rise in imports, oil excluded, from 17.49 billion Dhs (US $1.749 billion) in the first two months of 2002 to 19.28 billion Dhs (US $1.928 million) in the corresponding period of this year.

Port traffic in Morocco to increase by 3.9% in 2003

Port traffic in Morocco is expected to reach 60 million tons in 2003, that is a 3.9 percent increase compared to last year's estimates, said on Wednesday director general of the Moroccan ports office (ODEP), Mustapha Baroug. This increase is projected to reach 7 percent for traffic of liquid goods in bulks, 5.6 percent for general goods and 1.8 percent for solid goods in bulk, said Baroug during a meeting of ODEP administration board, chaired by equipment and transport minister, Karim Ghellab. Baroug noted that containers activity, to grow significantly, is expected to register a 12.3 percent increase, to reach 4.35 million tons, whereas passengers transit will increase by 10 percent. The sales expected for 2003 will be about 2.01 Billion Dhs (US $201.3 million), that is a 1.9 percent increase. Tax reduction enforced during 2002 fiscal year allowed to make significant performances, including an "unprecedented" growth in the net resultestimated at 102 percent. As to the 2001-2005 investment program (of a budget estimated at 3.6 billion Dhs (US $360 million), Baroug said it was updated to meet new demands ofport traffic, carry on the modernization of ports and satisfy operators' demands.

A serial on the life of the famed Muslim leader, Tarek Ibn Ziad, who conquered Spain in the early 8th century, will start to be shot in Morocco next month. The 30-episode serial, made by Egyptian Ahmad Sakr, relates the life and conquests of Tarek Ben Ziad, who headed in 711 in a bold command an army of 10,000 men across the Gibraltar Strait, opening a golden page of Muslim rule in Spain throughout seven centuries. The serial's starring list features renowned Arab actors from Morocco, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

Rapid sea line to be opened between Morocco, Spain

A new rapid sea transport line will be opened Tuesday between the Moroccan northern city of Tangiers and the southern Spanish town of Algesiras. The new route will be serviced by a new "Super Fast Ferry Federico Garcia Lorca," which can transport 800 passengers and 210 vehicles in eight shuttles per day across the 14-km Gibraltar strait, separating Morocco and Spain.

Some 250 artists to take part in Fez festival of world sacred music, president

Some 250 artists from the five continents will participate in the 9th Fez festival of world sacred music, to take place June 6-14, said president of the event, Mohammed Kabbaj. Speaking at a press conference Friday, Kabbaj said the 9th edition, to be held under the theme "from my soul to your soul: the art of transmission" will focus on various themes including "Our responsibility in defining and shaping the future generations," "Identities of peace and a global, spiritual notion of citizenship," "The ends and purpose of business enterprise," "Media and ethics: From the real to the virtual" and the role of education in the construction of a mutually supportive world. Mohammed Kabbaj reiterated that the event remains faithful to its principle since its first edition of 1994. This year, it will illustrate the peaceful co-existence between peoples and religions. In a message published on the festival's website "fezfestival.org" president of the festival says "the intercultural dialogue of the sacred that is promoted by the Festival and the "Rencontres de Fes" Colloquium provides an anchoring ground, and takes us beyond the level of globalization to an understanding of universality, citing the Koranic verse IL, 13:"Humans, you were created from a man and from a woman, and you were created from different peoples and nations so that you might know one another: In God's eyes, the most noble among you are those who are the most virtuous."

RABAT, Apr.16 - Morocco's Interior Minister, Mustapha Sahel on Tuesday announced "a deep revision" of the current communal warding to fill in its gaps. In a response during question time at the House of Advisers (Upper Chamber), Sahel said the warding revision will also allow for a reconsideration of the Kingdom's administrative warding. He added in this respect that his department is about to achieve a thorough evaluation of the 1992 communal warding. For the Moroccan official, time does not allow for undertaking a new communal warding due to the elections that are slated in the coming months in Morocco. The ministry of the Interior will, however, devise a new communal warding that is adapted to the Kingdom's economic, social and geographic data, he went on, adding that this undertaking meets the "legitimate" claims and aspirations voiced by various organizations both locally and nationally. A new methodology, based on consultation with representatives, administrative authorities, will be adopted in order to take into account the true worries and local data of the concerned populations, he said. The minister recalled in this respect the strategic importance of the communal warding which aims to draw the administration even closer to the citizen, consecrate democracy and enlarge the scope of local development. He noted on the other hand that a communal warding is not necessarily a definite and completed work but rather a field of continuing evolution that allows for corrections to fend off imbalances. A new communal warding is far from being the achievement of one person, much less that of one party but is rather an undertaking that calls for the mobilization of different sides, along with the administration, elected officials at all levels and all economic and social operators, he insisted.

Morocco has devised a plan to develop its energy sector and prepare it for liberalization. The objectives of the plan and strategic orientations of Morocco's energy sector were discussed Thursday at the weekly meeting of the Government Council, chaired by Premier Driss Jettou, Communication Minister and Spokesman for the government, Nabil Benabdallah, told the press. The plan seeks to adapt the energy sector to Morocco's social and economic development, said the minister, adding the strategy revolves around securing energy products supply under any circumstances, revising the tariff system, generalizing electricity, preventing industrial risks and liberalising the sector. Diversifying imports, consolidating infrastructures and strategic stocks, completing rural electrification by 2007, protecting the environment through clean technology and updating the tax system for electricity, gas, oil and renewable energies are other objectives sought by the strategy. According to Benabdallah, the consolidation of the inter-connection of Morocco and Spain's power grids will help industrialists draw benefit from liberalization and from prices enforced in South-Western Europe.

Morocco's Human Rights Consultative Council (CCDH) reiterated in Geneva on Wednesday its adherence to Paris Principles that tend to consolidate the autonomy and independence of national human rights institutions, citing recent large scale restructuring as an instance to this commitment. In a speech before the 59th session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Abdelaziz Benzakour, chairman of external relations' work group at the Council, recalled the dramatic evolution witnessed by the CCDH, which will allow this institution to achieve progress in promoting human rights. The reform, enforced on December 10th, is part of a comprehensive approach to human rights and reflects the will to act with national and international organisms.Benzakour further said that CCDH's reform is geared to adapt this institution to Paris Principles, which in turn aims to consolidate both the independence and autonomy of national human rights institutions, adding that CCDH's prerogatives have been "considerably reinforced." Part of modernizing effort, a Human Rights Prize will be awarded annually on CCDH's proposal to distinguish a personality or organization, either national or foreign, having produced an outstanding contribution to human rights, he said. The Moroccan official also recalled the approach adopted in addressing the delicate issue of compensating victims of disappearance and arbitrary detention, adding that the independent arbitration body, set up in August 1999, received by the end 1999 up to 5,000 applications. This body, he said, rendered up to 4,500 sentences by the end of March 2003. By virtue of 3,100 such sentences, compensations, worth US$ 85 million, were extended to 4400 claimants. The victims' compensation procedure is an original approach in Morocco which, unlike other countries, has adopted this way of dealing with past breaches without a change in the political regime.

Moroccan Small and Middle-Sized enterprises can benefit from credits from the Italian government to finance up to 100% of their equipment, head of Italy's Investment Promotion Unit (IPU), Serena Massimi, said. Speaking at an information meeting in Rabat Monday on Italy's credit line and the services and products offered by IPU, Massimi said the amount of such credits can range between 520,000 Dirhams (US$ 52,000) and 21 million Dirhams (US$ 2.1 million), adding that the credits are meant to support SMEs during all the project phases. The mission of the unit, an Italian body set to manage a credit line opened by the Italian government, also includes supporting technological and industrial partnership negotiations between Moroccan and foreign enterprises and the identification of available financing sources in Morocco. The Italian credit line has five priorities: job creation, innovation, technological development, joint enterprises and the use of clean energies. (MAP)IS

Toronto, Apr 16, 2003 (International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- On 16 April 2003, RSF said it would send a fact-finding mission to Morocco during the week of 21 April to investigate growing media repression in the country. Ali Lmrabet, publisher of the weeklies "Demain Magazine" and "Douman" and the organization's correspondent in Morocco, has been the target of repeated legal harassment since he published articles and cartoons criticizing the royal household and government policy. "The authorities have increased their pressure on the independent media in recent weeks, with threats, harassment, summonses and legal action," noted RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard. "The government has used the international focus on Iraq to return to its old repressive ways, and several journalists, including Lmrabet, have been the victims. We are very concerned," Menard added. Lmrabet was called in by police detectives on 1 April on the orders of a Rabat state prosecutor. He was interrogated for five hours about articles he had published in recent months. These have included reports on the king's civil list budget (an official Finance Ministry document distributed to members of parliament for approval), a cartoon about "the history of slavery" and a photo-montage featuring various politicians. Police asked Lmrabet if he was aware that he had called into question the "sanctity" of the country's institutions. He was also questioned about excerpts from an interview (which first appeared in the Spanish daily "Avui") with an anti-royalist Moroccan figure, Abdallah Zaazaa, who called for the self-determination of the Saharawi people. The journalist was accused of "undermining the territorial integrity" of Morocco.

Lmrabet told RSF he was quite surprised to be accused of these offences because the author of the remarks had not been troubled and it was not the first time such statements had been reported in the Moroccan media. On 9 April, he was summoned again by police in Rabat and a Casablanca court at virtually the same time, though the two cities are 100 kilometres apart. He kept the appointment in Casablanca, where six complaints filed against him by journalists from the daily newspaper "El Ahdath el Maghribia" were heard. Forty "El Ahdath el Maghribia" journalists have filed a total of 40 complaints against Lmrabet so far in 2003, because of a cartoon in "Demain Magazine"'s 11 May 2002 issue, in which their newspaper was described as "pornographic". The plaintiffs deliberately filed their complaints in different cities, forcing Lmrabet to report to at least half a dozen courts between 28 January and 5 June 2003. "He has to be everywhere at once, but he cannot be convicted more than once for the same offence," his lawyer, Ahmed Benjelloun, explained. Lmrabet, who said the whole matter is "clearly political," was summoned again on 10 April by police in Rabat on the orders of the state prosecutor. He was asked the same questions as earlier by two officers. "Your answers are not good enough," one officer said. When Lmrabet asked him to write the remark in the official report on the questioning, the officer refused. Also on 10 April, in Settat (80 kilometres south of Casablanca), Mohamed Bennouna Louridi, who writes for "Douman", was physically assaulted in the street by several people who accused him of writing an article about the town's governor that appeared on 9 April. 

Copyright International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House. Distributed by All Africa Global Media(AllAfrica.com)

Morocco's Interior minister, Mustapha Sahel, announced on Wednesday that the government decided to appropriate US$ 10 million to settle street hawkers. Taking the floor during question time at the House of Representatives (Lower Chamber), Sahel said the program, to be implemented in ten big cities, was devised by his department in a joint endeavor with Commerce and Industry ministry, local councils, private sector, the civil society and the recipients. The Moroccan official further added that this five-month program, to be kicked off within weeks, concerns 23,000 street hawkers peddling products in about 84 sites covering some 27 hectares. He further recalled that his department already instructed local councils to set up pilot markets for peddlers operating within their jurisdiction, noting that this move yielded encouraging results.

Moroccan renowned painter, Chaibya Talal, was awarded the gold medal of the French Academic Society for Education and Encouragement in recognition for her talent. The painter will receive the medal at a ceremony next May in Paris, said the academy, set up in 1915. Chaibia Talal, born in 1929, is a self taught artist,whose works are influenced by works of artists from the Kobra painting Movement

Over 44,000 audio tapes and 5,000 cds seized in Tangier

The first instance court of Tangiers has ordered the seizure of 44,017 audio tapes and over 5,000 compact disks for non-conformity with the law on intellectual property and copyrights. The Moroccan office of intellectual copyrights announced in a release that the illegal tapes and CDs were seized following a complaint lodged by the office and by professional organizations. The seizure, part of a nationwide campaign against audio-visual piracy and counterfeiting, was to conform to notes issued by the interior and justice ministers to all the Moroccan governors. The intellectual property office and trade unions are calling professionals to abide by the Moroccan laws and conventions signed by Morocco and see to the respect of the legal license-delivering procedure to protect the rights of creators and producers.

Morocco's Fisheries office (ONP) recently had its main offices connected to its 17 regional delegations through a new information system dubbed MAIA. The network enables remote management of fleet, fish species, buyers and transactions, director general of the office, Majid Kaissar El Ghaib, said on the sidelines of the 6th international sea fair, held in Casablanca April 10-13. MAIA also provides instant statistics on yields and prices in markets across the country. Besides the inter-connection of the country's markets, it is possible to include other countries', which would put international prices within the reach of Moroccan operators

Morocco's mining sales decreases by 3.4% in 2002

Morocco's mining sector posted a 19.3 billion Dirham (US$ 1.93 billion) sales in 2002, as compares to 19.9 billions (US$ 1.99 billion) the previous year, i.e. a 3.4% decrease, the energy and mining department said in arelease. The downturn is due to the regression in the sales of crude mining products and fertilizers, respectively by 5.4% and 8.6%. Contrarily, processed products scored a better sales like for phosphoric acid (2.7%) and others (1.9%). In 2002, mining production reached 24.3 million tons against 23.2 million tons in 2001, which is a 4.5% rise. The progress is mainly due to phosphates whose production increased by 4.8% increase. Production volume of processed products went up by 3.6% for phosphoric acid and 19.6% for others.

Moroccan-born US marine refuses to fight 

Younes Hansali who faces possible court-martial for refusing to fight Iraqis still has doubts about being in Baghdad. By Catherine Hours - BAGHDAD

"The war is over. All I want now is to be able to help the Iraqis," said Moroccan-born Younes Hansali, a US marine caught in a dilemma over the Iraq war. A devout Muslim, Hansali said he did not want to kill. "I am opposed to war. It goes against my religion," he said on the outskirts of Baghdad, where he is stationed with the marines' expeditionary force. Hansali, who faces possible court-martial for indiscipline, reached a compromise with his superiors, who offered to let him to serve as interpreter within the "civil affairs" unit of the force. "I try to talk to people, to collect information. I'm at peace with myself because I was against the regime of Saddam Hussein and I want to help the Iraqis," he said. Born in the Moroccan city of Fez 28 years ago, Hansali went to Orlando, Florida at age 15 to study, staying with a friend of his father. "America is a great country, a land of opportunity. So I stayed there," said Hansali, who became an American citizen in 1998, married an American and eventually settled in San Diego, California. He joined the army at age 23 "in order to work, travel, change my lifestyle," he said without elaborating. When the time came to go to war for the first time, Hansali did not tell his family in Fez. He feared they would worry, but also that they would not approve of his role against an Arab and Muslim country. "I think they would have found it difficult to accept," he conceded. "Arabs sometimes react emotionally, rather than logically. As far as I am concerned, it is normal to try to eliminate the Baghdad regime. This will enable Iraqis to benefit from their resources," Hansali said. "But the way the United States did it, resorting to force against the will of the United Nations, is no good," he said. "Sometimes I think I am here to help the people. But sometimes I feel my presence is not justifiable," he added with a sad smile. Iraq is "a strategic country. I think we'll be here for a while," he opined. Hansali said US President George W. Bush's references to religion "bother" him. Much as with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "the US government has the means to do better," he said.  But he has no problem with comrades in his marines unit. "They respect me and I respect them," said Hansali, who continues to pray five times a day, as devout Muslims do. "They ask me 'why pray five times'? 'Can one have four wives'? Many never had a chance to meet Muslims and some think that 'Muslim' equals 'Islamist'," he remarked. "I try to explain that some Arabs use religion for their own ends. Killing innocents has nothing to do with Islam."

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