FOM Newsletter December 2003
Morocco Week in Review 
December 20  2003

The king's initiative in reforming the Moudawana has tackled what was once considered a major taboo in conservative Morocco. However, many analysts say the implementation of the new law is likely to prove extremely complex. Given the low level of education in many parts of the country, particularly of women in rural areas, spreading awareness of the new law and helping women claim their new rights will be an immense task. There has been resistance, too, from those opposed to a perceived undermining of Morocco's centuries-old patriarchal society. Since the king's October speech to parliament, some lawyers report that a rising number of marriages have been called off. However, according to a recent survey published in the daily newspaper L'Economiste, an overwhelming majority of Moroccans support the reforms, with 64.7 percent in favour and 12.2 percent opposed.

In a bid to secure still greater support for the proposed new Moudawana, the government and local associations have initiated a series of information campaigns. In a meeting in Rabat last week, women's rights activists, scholars, and journalists met to define a media strategy to promote the Moudawana. Anticipating a possible coolness for the reforms on the part of the country's conservative judges, the government has created 'family tribunals,' presided over by female judges specialized in marriage and divorce issues.
http://www.metimes.com/2K3/issue2003-51/methaus.htm
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Center for women information, studies and documentation created in Morocco
Morocco, Culture, 12/17/2003

Yasmina Baddou, Morocco's state secretary in charge of family, solidarity and social action, launched Monday construction works of the Moroccan Center for Women Information, Studies and documentation, part of efforts to "support human development and social integration." In a speech she gave at the opening of a seminar on the beginning of the second phase of the MEDA project, Baddou said the creation of this center coincides with the launching of reforms in various fields in Morocco, particularly in matters concerning family. She also recalled the family code reform announced by HM king Mohammed VI on the opening of the parliamentary session.

Baddou told MAP that "the new institution will facilitate decision making in different matters related to women and will contribute to the integration of the culture of equality between the two sexes." She added that "the center is a scientific instrument that will help women and support the action of governmental and non governmental organizations in the field. The institution will ensure training of the concerned departments' employees, provide documentation and conduct studies, she went on."

Olivier Ruyssen, in charge of the European Commission interior affairs in Rabat, said the creation of the center is part of a governmental strategy to improve women's condition in Morocco, underlining "the context is favorable" for launching the MEDA project. The 1.72 million Euro project is part of the Morocco-EU financial and technical cooperation scheme. It will extend over a period of two years, from July 2003 until July 2005, and will be financed by the European Commission. Morocco's participation amounts to around about 88,000 Euros
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031217/2003121729.html
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A tunnel to link Europe with Africa, to cost over 3 billion Euros
Morocco-Spain, Economics, 12/17/2003

The construction of a tunnel linking Europe and Africa through the Gibraltar Strait will cost more than three billion EUROS, revealed on Monday, Spanish minister of development. Francisco Alvarez Cascos said that this tunnel will be "in the 21st century what the Suez Canal was in the 19th century and what the Panama Canal was in the 2Oth century." The longtime planned construction of this tunnel could begin within five years after Spain and Morocco agreed to a major engineering study of the Strait of Gibraltar. The tunnel could be dug between Punta Paloma in southern Spain and Punta Malabata near Tangier in Morocco. It would run for 38.5 kilometers and would pass beneath the strait for 27 kilometers at a depth of about 300 metres.

The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow and turbulent stretch of water connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The shortest distance across is just 19 kilometers. But the seabed is so deep across this stretch that a tunnel would need to be dug at a depth of 900 meters. Spain and Morocco agreed to conduct a detailed engineering survey to determine the feasibility of a tunnel. The Spanish transport ministry said 27m Euros ($33m) would be spent on the study but added that construction of the tunnel itself would begin no sooner than 2008. "The final route and the depth of the tunnel will depend on the geological studies, which require a series of complex tests," said a statement from the Spanish transport ministry. The ministry has already built an experimental tunnel that is more than half a kilometer long. Core samples of the rock beneath the strait will be taken to develop a picture of its geology. Like the Channel Tunnel, which links the UK and France beneath the English Channel, the new link would consist of two main tunnels linked by a smaller maintenance passageway. But the Channel Tunnel is slightly longer, covering 49 kilometer.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031217/2003121733.html
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No financial authorities agreement required for textile companies to grant discounts to foreign customers
Morocco, Economics, 12/17/2003

Moroccan exporting textile companies are allowed from now on to grant their clients abroad discounts up to 3 percent from the exportation invoice without prior agreement of the Moroccan Exchange Office. This measure also enables exporting companies to respond quickly to their regular customers' price cut requests and take up the challenges of the global market, says a communique of the Exchange Office. A prior agreement from the Moroccan Exchange Office was required for textile companies to grant their customers abroad discounts for various purposes. The measure, part of the liberalization process, is meant to simplify the regulation in force.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031217/2003121722.html
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Morocco's 2003 cannabis cultivation estimated at 47,000 tons
Morocco, Economics, 12/17/2003

Cannabis cultivation in Morocco covers a 134,000 hectare surface, which amounts to a raw production of 47,000 tons, corresponding to a potential hashish production of 3,080 tons, according to a survey conducted in cooperation between the Moroccan Agency for Economic and Social Development of the Northern Provinces, and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Presenting Monday the results of the survey with UNODC officials in Rabat, Driss Benhima, the Moroccan Agency's executive director, explained that cannabis cultivation in Morocco is a "manageable and a controllable" phenomenon as it represents only 0.57 % of Morocco's GDP and 51% of the annual income of a cannabis producing family. The survey says 800,000 persons work in cannabis cultivation, which represents 27% of arable lands in the surveyed territory along the mountainous chain of the Rif. Cannabis production in Morocco raises a total revenue of 2 billion DH (214 million US$), while the total market value of Moroccan cannabis resin is estimated at US$ 12 billion, the study goes.

"It is indeed a global cannabis market, Benhima said. Our country is therefore afflicted by an activity which is detrimental to its development and whose factors of expansion are largely out of its control," stressing the harm cannabis cultivation causes to the ecosystem. Cannabis cultivation overexploits and exhausts greatly the soil, which pushes farmers to destroy forested areas to accommodate new cannabis fields, thus accelerating soil erosion. He said "the survey falls within a development scheme rather than a repressive one." He indicated that the survey reveals figures "much inferior" to some estimations already made. "Morocco has acted with courage and exposed the extent of domestic cannabis cultivation, but the question must be addressed blending demand and supply measures," Costa said. "It is Europe's turn to focus especially on preventive measures, reducing cannabis consumption among the youth." He said "Europe's drug habits are at the heart of the illegal activity, which is explained but not justified by the poverty of the Rif population." Maria Costa hailed "the determination of the Moroccan government to resolve this problem." http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031217/2003121727.html
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Morocco's fruits, vegetables exports score 48% rise
Morocco, Economics, 12/18/2003

Morocco's exports of various fruits and vegetables reached 34,000 Tons by mid-December 2003, i.e. a 48% rise against last year, the department of agriculture and rural development said in a release Tuesday. Main fruits and vegetables exports are French beans (16,500T), sweet and strong pepper (6,500T), zucchini (8,000T) and melon (900T). Total citrus fruit exports reached by mid-December 121,000T against 113,000T last year, which is a 7% rise. The exports are mainly oranges. Early fruits exports reached 101,000T during the same period, scoring a 25% rise in comparison with last year, the same source goes, adding that tomatoes exports increased by 15%.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031218/2003121822.html
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Morocco produces 6% of world olive growing production
Morocco, Economics, 12/18/2003

Morocco contributes with 6 percent in the world olive growing production with 560,000 tons annually, the Moroccan Agro-food Federation (FENACRI) said in a report that was published recently on the national oil growing sector. FENACRI pointed out that olive trees are planted in an area of 500,000 Hectares, underlining that the oil growing industry generates 55,000 permanent jobs in rural zones. According to the report, olive production increased from 229,000 T in the period of 1960-1969 to 494,000 T during 1990-1999, which represents an annual rise of 2.9%. FENACRI added that canned olive products increased from 39,000 T in 1960-1969 to 90,000 T in 1990-1999, that is a 3% annual rise. Olive trees help develop marginal lands and contribute to environment protection, the report went on.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031218/2003121820.html
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Nearly 1 million Moroccans to benefit of anti-illiteracy campaign in 2004, official
Morocco, Education, 12/19/2003

Nearly one million Moroccans will benefit of the lessons provided part of the anti-illiteracy campaign during the school year 2003-2004, Moroccan secretary of state in charge of literacy and non-formal education, Nejma Ghozali Tay Tay said in Tetuan Wednesday. According to the minister, the lessons profited to 100 thousand people in 2001 and 390 thousand in 2002. At present, it benefits to 700 thousand people, a figure likely to reach one million during the current school year.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031219/2003121923.html
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Morocco probes health project with World Bank

Morocco, Local, 12/19/2003
Moroccan health minister, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, probed, in Rabat Wednesday, with a delegation of the World Bank (WB) a new project on micronutrients, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project aims at reinforcing strategies to fight nutritional defects by strengthening high consumption elements, the health ministry said in a release, underlining that the funds allocated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be managed by the World Bank. The WB delegation,, examined other issues with the Moroccan official, including the program in relation with the financing and management of the health sector, the source went on http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031219/2003121922.html
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5,000 athletes to take part in international marathon of Marrakech
Morocco, Sports, 12/19/2003

Over 5,000 athletes will take part in the 15th edition of the international marathon of Marrakesh, to be held in January 18, organizers have said. Mohamed Knidri, Chairman of Grand Atlas association that is organizing the event told the press, in Casablanca Wednesday, the aim is to make of this sports event an important rendezvous for the stars of marathons, recalling that the last edition grouped top runners of fourteen African, European and American countries. According to organizers, the marathon will also be an exceptional tourism event that will attract thousands of tourists. Nearly 1000 Frenchmen are expected to attend the event part of an operation made in cooperation with the marathon of Paris. On the fringes of the event, children aged between 8 and 13 will take part in a 3 Km-length race to initiate them to this kind of sport. http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031219/2003121921.html
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Moroccan government determined to fight children exploitation in work places
Morocco, Culture, 12/20/2003

The Moroccan government is determined to fight all forms of children exploitation in work places through implementing germane laws, handicraft and social economy minister, M'Hamed El Khalifa, pledged in Rabat on Thursday. During a meeting dedicated to a major program of protection of children working in handicraft in Fez (East of Rabat), El Khalifa said that this commitment stems from conventions signed by Morocco fixing minimum working age and the new labor code. In order to fight the phenomenon, the handicraft department has elaborated a program based on a training scheme, drawn in collaboration with handicraft chambers and the state secretariat in charge of professional training. The scheme has benefited over 6700 trainees. The minister recalled the convention signed between his department and the national education and youth department, on providing children working in handicraft with informal education and reintegrating them in the educational system. The program also surveyed the work of children protection centers, launched by Princess Lalla Meryem in 2000, in partnership with UNICEF and governmental sectors. The centers aim at providing children working in the sector with health, education and leisure services in work places, El Khalifa added.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031220/2003122020.html
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Mohammed V foundation collects over us $15 million in solidarity campaign
Morocco, Local, 12/20/2003

Moroccan charity, "Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity" has collected US $15.3 million (153 million Dhs) in this year's solidarity campaign, US $11.8 million of this sum in cash and the rest of it in goods, it was revealed in Rabat Friday. The cash donations were collected thanks to the contribution of thousands of donators, particularly the members of the Foundation's permanent support committee that was created part of a partnership network of social solidarity, the foundation said in a press release, adding that the sale of badges and stamps also contributed to the collection of donations.

According to the foundation, which bears the name of the Late King Mohammed V, grandfather of King Mohammed VI, the donations in goods consisted of drugs, food, health equipment, garments and other articles. Several partners of the foundation contribute directly to the implementation of some projects carried out by Mohammed V solidarity foundation, the release said, highlighting the massive participation in the solidarity campaign of Moroccans living inside the country and abroad. The foundation which carried out several projects in favor of impoverished populations, aims at achieving social and economic development in the country.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031220/2003122017.html
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Morocco, UNDP sign cooperation agreement to assist micro energy enterprises
Morocco, Economics, 12/19/2003

Morocco and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed in Marrakesh Wednesday a cooperation agreement to carry out the national program of assistance to micro energy enterprises. The new program will contribute to the implementation of the national policy aimed at generating access to energy through the mobilization of experts. The initiative, which has enabled to set up more than a hundred micro energy enterprises, aspires to create 500 new units in four years. The agreement was signed between energy and mines minister, Mohamed Boutaleb, and UNDP representative in Morocco, Emanuel Dierckx De Casterele.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031219/2003121931.html
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Launch of campaign to protect children
Culture, 12/16/2003
The National Observatory of Children Rights,(ONDE), a Moroccan NGO, launched, on Sunday, a new campaign of awareness for the protection of children against sexual exploitation. This campaign was launched as part of a national strategy worked out by ONDE, under the chairmanship of Princess Lalla Meryem, sister of King Mohammed VI of Morocco. The initiative aims at increasing mobilization in order to create an environment favorable to the welfare and the protection of children, an ONDE communique said.

The ONG national strategy includes fighting ill-treatments of young female maids and protecting children from drugs. According to ONDE, children are still victims of sexual exploitation and need a particular treatment. They also need the mobilization of all the active forces of the society in order to focus efforts on denunciating these crimes, setting a mechanism for direct protection and consolidating the existing system that fights all forms of children's sexual exploitation. http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031216/2003121622.html 
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Marrakech G-77 conference to focus on peoples needs and development
Regional-Morocco, Politics, 12/16/2003

The G-77 "China high-level meeting to be held Dec.16-19 in Marrakech will discuss the issue of development in the 135 countries that represent 80% of the globe inhabitants, forming the G-77"China, or as it was called by former Tanzanian president "the union of poor countries." A set of programs worked out for developing countries will be reviewed in order to adapt them to the new world juncture, particularly the program of Buenos Aires on technical cooperation between developing countries, and the Caracas program on economic cooperation.

Developing countries will also be reconsidering the general system of trade preferences among them, conduct a half-way scrutiny of the recommendations and decisions of the Havana summit and seek means to consolidate south-south cooperation to the benefit of least developed countries. Recent UN data estimate at 40 per cent of total developing country trade taking place between the developing countries themselves. The G-77, founded to give a stronger voice to developing countries, said there was concern that the recent international emphasis on security issues meant development was being comparatively ignored.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031216/2003121621.html
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Morocco losing forests to cannabis
Owen Bowcott Tuesday December 16, 2003

Cannabis production is expanding so fast in Morocco that it is causing soil erosion and the destruction of long-established forests, the UN reported yesterday. The illicit cash crop, which supplies most of the resin used by Europeans, is estimated to be worth £7bn a year to trafficking networks. As much as a quarter of the agricultural land in the Rif, the mountainous region where the plant is traditionally grown, is given over to cannabis cultivation, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says. Two-thirds of the local population - as many as 800,000 people -depend on the crop. "Through its expansion, cannabis production threatens the environment of the Rif," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of UNODC. "[It] risks corrupting the social and economic structure and compromising any prospects of sustainable development there."

The increase was partially due to the "spectacular expansion of drug consumption" in Europe since the 1970s, he said. The report reinforces previous alerts over the scale of the country's Moroccan drug industry. Earlier this summer, EU agronomists effectively abandoned a £750,000 programme aimed at persuading Moroccan farmers to cultivate avocados rather than cannabis. The survey, carried out with the cooperation of the Moroccan government, shows that 134,000 hectares are given over to growing what is locally known as kif . As much as 47,400 tonnes is harvested. "In the past 20 years, cannabis cultivation has spread from the traditional areas in the central Rif, where it has been grown since the 15th century, to new areas," the UN report says. As much as 1.5% of Morocco's arable land is given over to cannabis, with the average family income derived from it estimated at £1,280, although prices have fallen sharply in the past four years in Britain, possibly as a result of the rapid rise in homegrown marijuana production.

The gradual softening of laws against cannabis possession do not, however, appear to have had any significant effect so far on demand for Moroccan hashish. Most of the money from illegal sales, however, does not return to the farmers, whose combined income is believed to be about £141m, compared with £7bn earned in Europe. An earlier UNODC report suggested that cannabis is the most widely produced, smuggled and consumed illegal drug in the world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1107803,00.html
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U.S. SEEKS BASES IN MOROCCO, TUNISIA
WASHINGTON [MENL] --

The U.S. military has been discussing the prospect of establishing bases in North Africa. A report by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation said the U.S. European Command has sought to establish a presence in at least two North African states. The report cited Morocco and Tunisia. "The command is also looking at establishing basing arrangements in countries like Tunisia and Morocco so that U.S. forces can deploy to the continent more effectively if American troops are required," the report, entitled "U.S. Military Assistance for Africa: A Better Solution," said. Authored by James Carafano and Nile Gardiner, the report said the U.S. military has been considering reorganizing its command structure in North Africa and the rest of the continent. Currently, the continent is divided between the European Command, or Eucom, and Central Command. Eucom is responsible for the U.S. military presence in most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa while Centcom is responsible for most of North Africa. http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2003/december/12_16_3.html
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Spain, Morocco to build tunnel under Mediterranean Sea.
By Reuters: 13/12/2003

MADRID - Spain and Morocco have agreed to build a 39-km rail tunnel beneath the Mediterranean sea, Spain's Development Ministry said on Saturday, in a sign of warming relations between the two nations. <<...OLE_Obj...>> The tunnel will run beneath the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from North Africa. The site was chosen because the Mediterranean at that point is only around 300 meters deep, a ministry statement said. The project for a fixed link, first mooted in 1980, was revived at a summit in Morocco earlier this month aimed at healing relations between Madrid and Rabat, the statement said. It comes less than two years after Morocco and Spain nearly came to blows over the tiny uninhabited Mediterranean islet of Perejil in July 2002.

Rabat claims the rocky outcrop, only a few hundred meters from its coast, as well as Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.  A military clash was narrowly avoided when Spanish troops landed by helicopter to eject a handful of Moroccan soldiers who had set up a monitoring post on Perejil. The project is still in its early stages. Morocco and Spain have agreed a three-year working plan with a budget of 27 million euros ($30 million), over four-fifths of which will be spent on seismic testing to determine the best drilling route. Plans are to locate the Spanish mouth of the tunnel at Punta Palomas some 40 km west of Gibraltar and the Moroccan end at Punta Malabata near Tangiers.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=371559&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
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Morocco to double budget allocated to school building
Morocco, Education, 12/15/2003

Moroccan national education and youth minister, Habib El Malki, announced in Rabat Friday that the budget allocated to building schools, estimated at 1.39 billion Dhs in 2003 (US $139 million), will be doubled next year. The national charter on education contains a number of recommendations meant to find a solution to the problems posed for the construction of schools, El Malki said at the opening of a seminar on the "problematic of school buildings."

The minister highlighted the need to build schools that are more attractive to students, noting several problems, especially poor quality, high costs of construction and the non-respect of deadlines. He called on the concerned parties to mobilize to change the current situation in order to allow students to complete their education in better conditions.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031215/2003121525.html
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Morocco and Spain to be Linked by a 38-km Long Railway
MADRID, Dec.15

A Spanish official source announced that Morocco and Spain will be connected through a double track-railway that would be built under the 300 m deep- Gibraltar Strait. The railway will be 38.7 km-long, with 27.7 km beneath the sea. The source added that the decision was made at a meting held on December 2nd in Madrid between Moroccan minister of Equipment and Transportation, Karim Ghallab, and Spanish development minister, Francisco Alvarez Cascos, as part of the joint committee of the fixed connection.

The joint committee also approved the 2004-2006 action plan, and a budget of 27 million Euros. It was also decided to assign the railway project to Morocco's National Society of Detroit Studies (SNED Maroc) and the Spanish Society of fixed communication (SECEGSA). The Spanish ministry of Development had explained that the tunnel will be around 100 m deep beneath sea, although the tunnel definitive tract and deepness will be determined by geological and geotechnical studies.

The Moroccan Spanish joint committee of the fixed connection explained that Morocco and Spain would bring an equal contribution to 27 million Euros, including 84% which will finance studies related to the depth of the project. The Committee expects all the project technical and socio-economic data to be available by 2008. The European commission will be requested to extend an assistance for the final stages of the project.

According to the same source, the tunnel, made of three galleries, including two major ones and an emergency one, will link Punta Malabata (Tangier) to Punta Palomas (Tarifa). In a previous declaration to MAP, Ghallab had noted that after the action plan was approved, the drilling operation will start in the fall of 2004.  Ghallab said that the drilling operation will gather, once finished, all the necessary data to kick-start the project. © MAP 2003
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm
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H.M. King Appoints HRH Princess Lalla Meryem, Chairwoman of National Union of Moroccan Women
RABAT, Dec.15

H.M. King Mohammed VI of Morocco, on Thursday, appointed his sister, HRH Princess Lalla Meryem, chairwoman of the National Union of Moroccan women, in replacement of the late HRH princess Lalla Fatima Zohra who passed away in September. The appointment, says the Royal Palace, shows HM the king's care and interest to this humanitarian organization which aims at improving the women's condition in Morocco. The sovereign also paid tribute to the late HRH princess Lalla Fatima Zohra who was daughter of Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz, and spouse of the late prince Moulay Al Hassan Belmehdi, who served before the independence, under the reign of the late HM king Mohammed V, Caliph of the Sultan in Northern Morocco. MAP 2003 http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm
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Telecom regulation agency moves to encourage home-internet
Morocco, Economics, 12/15/2003

Morocco's agency of telecoms regulation (ANRT) has authorized the Moroccan phone and Internet company (Maroc-Telecom "IAM") to sell, starting next January, a new offer for high and low-speed internet "in order to encourage home-internet). The ARNT announced this Friday the offer includes access without subscription, lower price for Internet and ADSL packages. Maroc-Telecom was authorized to sell subscription-free and ADSL high-speed Internet and charge lower lump tariffs.

The price of an hour of Internet connection will decrease by 40% to stand at 12 DH per hour (US$ 1.2) in order to allow Internet-services providers to market the service. It will also start selling Internet packages at a price that has been lowered by 20% to 41%. The third aspect of reforms concern high-speed with ADSL connection tariff to be cut by 25% (360 DH or US$ 36). Access fees were also reduced by 42% from 1,199 DH to 700 DH while transit fees for ISPs will go down from 450,000 DH per month to 330,000 DH. http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031215/2003121528.html 
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Al Ahdath Al Maghribya: Morocco attracted $ 3 billion in foreign investments in 2003
Morocco, Economics, 12/15/2003

Morocco received in 2003 US$ 3 billion-worth of foreign investments, said Hassan Bernoussi, head of investments. The official who was interviewed by "Al Ahdath Al Maghribya" daily said foreign investments hardly exceeded an annual average of US$ 500 million in the 90's, stressing that the rise in foreign investments is an illustration of the success of Morocco's policy of economic openness. He further stressed that most attractive sectors in 2004 will be tourism, agro-food, electronics, aeronautics, the new information and communication technologies and the cinema industry.

According to the 2003 UNCTAD report, returns of foreign direct investments in Morocco soared by 172.3% between the 1991-1996 and the 1997-2002 periods, from US$ 2.4 billion to US$ 6.64 billion. The evolution has enabled Morocco to go from the 4th to the 1st largest recipient of FDS in the Arab states, ahead of Egypt (US$ 5.42 billion) and Saudi Arabia (US$ 4.34 billion). http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031215/2003121527.html
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French tour operator says it will bring 150,000 tourists to Morocco in 2004
Morocco-France, Business, 12/15/2003

Richard Prosser, CEO of Etapes Nouvelles, France's major tour operator in Morocco, says it will bring 150,000 tourists in Morocco in 2004. Speaking at a press conference in Marrakesh, Prosser, who was leading some 20 tour operators heads and representatives from France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, said over 135,000 visitors came to Morocco with Etapes Nouvelles in 2003. The group has been offereing since last November a short-stay package, from Paris to the imperial city of Fez. The tour operator has also scheduled 15 weekly flights to Marrakesh and 7 to Agadir, in partnership with Morocco's airliner RAM.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031215/2003121535.html 
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Morocco gets $149 mln Kuwaiti loan for motorways
RABAT, Dec 15 (Reuters)

Morocco and Kuwait's Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development on Monday inked a 1.34 billion dirhams ($149 million) loan deal to help develop the country's motorway network, the finance ministry said. The loan would finance the construction of a 62-km-long (39 miles) section linking the city of Settat and the town of Skhour Rhamna, south of Morocco and another 28-km long section between the city of Tetouan and the town of Fnideq in the north, it said in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency. It gave no details on the terms of the deal. The Kuwaiti fund has so far financed 18.4 billion dirhams worth of projects in Morocco, the ministry added. ((Reporting by Souhail Karam; Reuters Messaging: http://webmail.att.net/wmc/v/wm/213d?cmd=ComposeTo&adr=souhail%2Ekaram%2Ereuters%2Ecom%40reuters%2Enet&sid=c0)) ($1=8.999 Moroccan dirhams)
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=1071508779nL15427574&section=Countries&pag e=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco  20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B 74A0D7C
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Moroccan king bridges divide on marriage law
By Zakia Abdennebi RABAT, Dec 14 (Reuters)

Just three years ago, proposals to improve women's rights in marriage and divorce left public opinion divided in Morocco, where Islam is the state religion. Now, King Mohammed and his advisers appear to have found consensus with a package of reforms which has something for everyone. Moroccan women's groups for years lobbied for family law, known as the Moudawana, to be drained of its religious content and treat men and women equally. But the country's Islamists vociferously opposed any changes that might distance family law from Sharia, the Islamic law. A revised package of reforms, drawn up by a royal commission, has ingeniously side-stepped the most thorny issues.

The new law will spell out that decisions on children and family planning should be taken by both spouses together. A woman will no longer have the legal obligation of "obedience" towards her husband. Other reforms, likely to pass smoothly into law with the royal stamp of approval, concern a woman's right to marry without a male relative's approval, polygamy, property rights, and a divorced women's right to keep custody of young children on re-marriage. Forty-year-old King Mohammed has swung the full weight of his monarchical authority behind the proposals, which he has already outlined to parliament.  Feminists had wanted polygamy outlawed, along with the husband's right to verbally divorce a wife without giving a reason. But both practices are endorsed in the Sharia. King Mohammed told politicians: "I cannot, as Commander of the Faithful...forbid what the Almighty has permitted."

RADICAL REFORM FOR ARAB WORLD
However, his religious role as Moroccan monarch allowed the king to face down conservative Islamists and propose changes unheard of in most Arab countries. It will become difficult to secure a judge's approval to take a second wife. And no verbal divorces will be valid until approved in court. On the street, most women had heard about the new law. "If only it had come out earlier!" said mother of five Amina Assanki, 36, from the mountainous Rif region. Her own husband, complaining that child-bearing had spoilt her looks, had taken a second, younger wife, she said. Dropping its previous trenchant opposition to change, the Justice and Development Party (PJD), the only Islamists in the Moroccan parliament, gave its "firm endorsement" to the reforms. They would "benefit the Moroccan family and all its elements, husband, wife and children," said a PJD communique.

Nadia Yassine, a spokeswoman for the Adl wal Ihsane (Justice and Charity) Islamist movement, also approved the revised proposals: "We have often stated that the text of the Moudawana is not sacred," she said. This new-found flexibility among the Islamists is a sign of the times, wrote Aboubakr Jamai, editor of the independent weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire. In May, bombings by young Islamist extremists in Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, killed 45 people, including the 12 suicide bombers. The more mainstream Islamist groups have been keen to distance themselves from this radical fringe. "This allowed the monarchy an easy victory," Jamai wrote. But "easy or not, this reform is a revolution."

SOME RESERVATIONS
Some women's rights activists have reservations about how the changes will pan out in practice. Judges applying family law are currently all male; re-training has been promised. From the Islamist camp, Yassine said the legal changes would come up against some harsh grassroots realities, in the conservative and impoverished North African country where half the population of 30 million is illiterate. "For example, when the new law speaks of dividing up property acquired during a marriage, what possessions are the poor, the great majority of the population, to divide up?" she asked. On cafe terraces in the Moroccan capital Rabat, many men were dubious about the reforms, one civil servant dismissing them as a "victory for women's arrogance". A bank employee giving his name as Mohammed, said he feared they would "push men into staying single," encouraging "immorality".

The new law "gives the Moroccan woman back her honour," said Abdullah, a taxi driver. "But women have to understand the real meaning of the changes, so they don't use them to rebel against their husbands." Moroccan women interviewed, often as outspoken as any western feminist, had no such misgivings. "This new law will set some limits to men's domination," said student Zehour Machichi. ((Writing by Eileen Byrne, editing by Gilles Trequesser. Reuters Messaging: http://webmail.att.net/wmc/v/wm/213d?cmd=ComposeTo&adr=eileen%2Ebyrne%2Ereuters%2Ecom%40reuters%2Enet&sid=c0; +212-37 720065 ))
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=1071367265nL29635615&Section=Countries&pag e=Morocco&channel=Features%2C%20Analysis%20and%20Opinion&objectid=13F83A62-8 988-11D5-867E00D0B74A0D7C
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Human rights stir passions in Maghreb
Ilhem Rachidi MIDDLE EAST TIMES Rabat

Several hundred protesters took to the streets of Rabat on Tuesday night - the eve of International Human Rights Day - in a determined effort to draw attention to what they say has been a "regression" in human rights in Morocco following a government crackdown on alleged terrorists. "Human rights have appreciably regressed in Morocco in 2003, and the approach adopted by the state to combat terrorism has led to serious violations of human rights," said the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) in a statement issued to mark Human Rights Day. Independent human rights groups have accused the security forces of heavy-handedness in the wake of the May 16 attacks in Casablanca, in which 45 people died, including 12 suicide bombers.

New anti-terrorist legislation, passed almost unanimously less than two weeks after the Casablanca attacks, allows police to hold suspects for up to 12 days - a period in which activists say detainees are vulnerable to torture and mistreatment. The legislation had in the past been strenuously opposed by many politicians. The Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH) said the May attacks sparked a wave of arrests and cases of kidnap and torture by the security forces. Two suspects, Muhammad Bounnit and Abdel Haq Bentassir, died in police custody. Authorities claimed that Bentassir, the suspected coordinator of the attacks, died from complications resulting from heart and liver disease, but his family deny that he had any health problems prior to his arrest.

The trials of suspects linked to the attacks have also been criticized as unfair. At least 14 people have been sentenced to death and around 50 more sentenced to life in prison. However, human rights groups said that in some cases, the defense was not permitted to call witnesses to testify. Critics have also drawn attention to the harsh sentences imposed on radical religious theorists, which, they say, indicate a new, tougher line. Two preachers - Abu Hafs and Hassan Kettani - have been found guilty of being among the guiding forces behind the attacks through their alleged association with the extremist organization Salafia Jihadia. According to Abdel Karim Al Khatib, leader of the official Islamist Party of Justice and Development, no evidence of their association with the attacks has been put forward. "If they are at the origin of the attacks, it has to be proven," he said.

Analysts agree that the arrests of many alleged terrorists has owed more to notions of 'guilt-by-association' than hard facts. "Combatant salafism manifested itself at two levels: the propagandists and the activists," said Muhammad Darif, professor of political science at Mohamedia University. "Activists are not inevitably linked to propagandists." According to Morocco's ministry of justice, 1,157 people have been arrested in connection with the Casablanca attacks - a figure Darif claimed represented almost indiscriminate detention. "There has been a raking. People have been arrested based on their acquaintances. The state has looked for scapegoats," he said.

After years of work to establish human rights on the political agenda, many activists now see the fight against terrorism as a major hurdle to a balanced discussion. As Darif put it, "there is an evolution at the speech level, not in practice." Human rights is a subject of much discussion throughout North Africa. Last week's Euro-Mediterranean summit of North African and European leaders in Tunis was overshadowed by the issue, dominating headlines across the region. A final document 'firmly' condemning terrorism and encouraging security cooperation among the 10 participants prompted criticism by local human rights groups. Tunisian lawyers issued a letter denouncing the lack of civil liberties in the country and protesting at the detention of political prisoners.
http://www.metimes.com/2K3/issue2003-50/methaus.htm
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Morocco: Ali Lmrabet: Fears for hunger strike journalist's health.
16 December 2003

There are new fears for the mental and physical health of jailed Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet, who has begun a second hunger strike only months after ending a fifty-day fast that hospitalised him. James Badcock reports.  Ali Lmrabet, the jailed editor of two banned satirical news magazines in Morocco, has started another hunger strike just five months after he agreed to end a fifty-day fast which left him in a seriously weakened physical condition. According to reports he was joined in his protest by fellow-inmate Mohammed el-Hourd, managing editor of the weekly Asharq, Lmrabet began the hunger strike on 30 November in protest against their mistreatment and to demand recognition of their status as prisoners of conscience. Lmrabet had complained of being cut off from his regular visitors and of having his mobile phone blocked by signals from newly installed antennas. He also alleges that the signals are keeping him awake at night and giving him headaches. When the journalist's sisters went to Salé prison to visit him on 2 December, staff said Lmrabet had locked himself in his cell and was refusing to see them. His sisters asked for a signed message from their brother confirming his refusal to see them. The prison officers never returned with the requested note.

These reports have led Robert Ménard, secretary-general of the French media rights group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) to call on the Rabat authorities to let Lmrabet see a medical specialist. "He (Lmrabet) suffers from worrying neurological problems which have never been checked up on by a specialist," said Ménard in a statement. "This new hunger strike could well worsen his state of health. We call for assurances about his condition and that his family will be able to visit him as usual." Lmrabet ended a 50 day hunger strike on 24 June. A Rabat court sentenced Lmrabet, editor of Demain Magazine and Douman, to four years in jail on 21 May this year for "insulting the person of the king", "offence against territorial integrity" and "offence against the monarchy". His sentence was reduced on appeal to three years imprisonment on 17 June. The charges covered a series of contentious articles and cartoons on subjects ranging from the budget for the royal household to the opinions of a Moroccan republican activist and former political prisoner reprinted from a Spanish daily.

In an official statement relayed by the Moroccan publication, Politics on 12 December, the country's prisons ministry denied that Lmrabet's hunger strike was connected to his treatment. Lmrabet, it read, "has never been subject to aggression of whatever nature, nor to duress or provocation. He is treated in the same manner as the other detainees in this institution." The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that despite optimism about a new era of liberal media reform since the 1999 accession of King Muhammad, there have been a number of official restrictions imposed on the press during the last three years. "Morocco's press, which has established independent, influential publications that push the government's boundaries of free speech," says the New York based group, "still operates with the fear of criminal prosecution and harassment. Apart from Lmrabet, jailed since 21 May and Mohammed el-Hourd, jailed since 13 June, for publishing comments by the Islamist activist Zakkaria Boughrara, three others journalists - Moustapha Kechnini, Abdelaziz Jallouli and Miloud Trigui - have been given prison sentences of between 18 months and two years but are still free pending appeals.
http://www.indexonline.org/news/20031216_morocco.shtml
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Demand in Europe Driving Cannabis Cultivation in Morocco, UN Anti-Drug Agency Says
December 16, 2003

The demand for cannabis in Europe is driving more farmers in Morocco to cultivate the plant at the expense of legal crops, resulting in a growing industry now worth about $12 billion, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said today. The first cannabis cultivation survey in Morocco, conducted by the Government and UNODC, confirms the country's role as the main producer of cannabis resin, or hashish. Announcing the results of the Morocco Cannabis Survey 2003 in Rabat today, UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa warned of the global dimensions of Morocco's cannabis production, the international crime it generates, and the health risks posed to those who consume it.

Moroccan cannabis contains up to 20 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is considered the most dangerous active ingredient. According to the survey, raw cannabis production this year in Morocco is estimated at 47,000 tons, while the potential hashish production reached 3,080 tons. Both are mainly supplied to the European markets. The increased cannabis cultivation is considered detrimental to other agricultural activities. The ecosystem is endangered because farmers make extensive use of fertilizers and overexploit the soil. In addition forested areas are destroyed every year to accommodate new cannabis fields, thus accelerating soil erosion. "Morocco has acted with courage and exposed the extent of domestic cannabis cultivation, but the question must be addressed blending demand and supply measures," Mr. Costa said. "It is Europe's turn to focus especially on preventive measures, reducing cannabis consumption among the youth." Mr. Costa attributed the rise of the cannabis production in northern Morocco to the three factors: its ancient origin, the poverty of a densely populated region, and the spectacular expansion of cannabis consumption since the 1970s. Cannabis production in Morocco, as elsewhere in the world, is to a large extent market-driven activity, UNODC said. While farmers raise a total revenue of $214 million, the total market value of Moroccan cannabis resin is estimated at $12 billion, with most of this money made by the trafficking networks operating in Europe.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200312160311.html
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Morocco's Journey To Political Reform
Wednesday, December 17, 2003; Page A42

Contrary to Jackson Diehl's Dec. 8 op-ed column about Morocco and free trade, the Moroccan Parliament is more than a debating society. Morocco conducted democratic elections for Parliament in 2002 and for local and regional representatives in 2003. The United States and the National Democratic Institute hailed these elections as "free, fair and transparent." No law can be adopted without the approval of the majority of Parliament, and the government needs the support of the majority of Parliament to be able to rule. The government fails if it loses the majority. The Moroccan government is also coming to terms with issues of past administrations. King Mohammed VI recently created a Commission on Fairness and Reconciliation, led by Omar Azziman, a human rights leader and president of the Human Rights Advisory Council. The commission will provide reparations to victims of past government abuse. Moreover, King Mohammed VI recently proposed an overhaul of the country's Family Law that, if passed by Parliament, will put women on an equal playing field with men. Although progress does not mean the end of the journey, the labor of King Mohammed VI has been genuine. Morocco started its democratization long before the United States began to seek to promote democracy and to generate economic opportunity in the Arab world. In the war on terrorism and on the efforts to build a better world, Morocco is cooperative and supportive -- just as it was more than 225 years ago, when in 1777 it became the first country to recognize the fledgling United States.
AZIZ MEKOUAR
Ambassador
Embassy of Morocco
Washington
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6534-2003Dec16.html
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Free Pass for Free Trade
By Jackson Diehl / washingtonpost.com Monday, December 8, 2003; Page A25

For the past several years Morocco has advanced as much as any Arab country toward political liberalization. It has released some human rights prisoners, held a couple of fairly open elections, created more rights for women inside and outside of government. But as in other would-be reformist states around the region, the underlying system hasn't changed. Power is still monopolized by a king, Mohammed VI; its Parliament is more a debating society than a legislative body. Islamic groups are banned or strictly controlled, prisoners are still abused and even secular, liberal-minded journalists are liable to be thrown in jail if they dare to criticize His Majesty.

Morocco, in short, is one of the countries where democratic progress seems most possible -- but it's also one of those "moderate" Arab autocracies where for decades the United States has ignored domestic repression in exchange for help on foreign policy and security matters. Since Sept. 11, 2001, Morocco has been more helpful than most, even after suffering its own devastating bomb attack in Casablanca last May. Yet President Bush has announced, three times, the abandonment of that old Middle East realpolitik in favor of a policy of promoting freedom -- which raises the interesting question of what that should mean for this North African country. Here's what the administration has told King Mohammed it means: Economic aid is to be quadrupled next year, while military aid will be doubled. What's more, a free trade agreement between the United States and Morocco -- only the second one with an Arab state -- will be finished soon; negotiators were meeting over the weekend in the hope of wrapping it up. All this will be offered with no political strings attached: no requirement that the king take another step or two toward democracy, or even that he let Ali Mrabet, the last journalist who tweaked him, out of jail. "We have strongly supported the steps Morocco has taken to move into the future," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said in Marrakesh last week after meeting with Mohammed. "We want to be partners in this effort, and our support for Morocco as it fights terrorism and undertakes reform has increased dramatically."

The revealing part of this policy is not the favored treatment; it's the free ride. Morocco, after all, has always been an American favorite. But in other parts of the world, the United States has not hesitated to use economic leverage to promote political change. To this day, Russia's access to U.S. markets depends on its respect for certain human rights. Arab democracy advocates in the Middle East, such as Egypt's Saad Eddin Ibrahim, argue that U.S. aid and trade preferences ought to be explicitly linked to political road maps -- not instant democracy, but steps toward greater freedom, tailored to bolster the indigenous civil society or reform movements of each country. Morocco, they argue, would be a particularly good place to establish such links.

The king, who is 40 years old and took power just four years ago, claims he favors multiparty democracy, a free press and respect for human rights. So to make aid and free trade contingent on progress toward those goals would only be to take him at his word. To this, administration officials protest that U.S. free trade agreements don't contain such provisions, that they weren't included in the 2001 trade deal with Jordan, that to demand them from Morocco would merely undermine the deal. But Morocco signed just such a deal seven years ago, with the European Union. One article of its "association accord" commits it to progress toward democracy and respect for human rights, and it gives European governments the right to raise these issues -- though the EU, being the EU, never has.

Robert B. Zoellick, the U.S. trade negotiator, makes another argument: Free trade invariably helps build the foundations of a free society through requirements for open rule-making, through the growth of a middle class. So why make the progress you hope for a juridical requirement? "Democracy and openness is our goal," he told me. "If democracy is seen as blocking access to trade, I worry that what you will plant is not the seeds of democracy but the seeds of resentment." Zoellick has big plans for the Middle East: He sees Morocco, Jordan and Bahrain -- a Persian Gulf state next in line for a free trade deal -- as anchors for free trade across the region. It's a great idea. But what's to stop existing Arab regimes from using the resulting economic boost to refresh their hold on political power? Okay, some other administration officials then say, here's the real deal. The United States isn't popular in the Middle East these days. But King Mohammed has been a true friend. He's done everything we've asked in the war on terrorism; his intelligence service has been a gold mine. He's refused to break with us on Iraq. And so now we're going to reward him by telling him to give up his throne for democracy? We can't -- and the free trade deal is the one positive we've got going for us in that country. It's not a bad argument. Maybe that's the right conclusion for now. But it raises the question about that old Middle East policy, the one President Bush has renounced three times. When Morocco's friendly king seals his strings-free trade agreement, will the Arabs -- will Ali Mrabet -- get the message that America is committed to their freedom or to their rulers? © 2003 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44384-2003Dec7.html
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Demand in Europe drives cannabis production in Morocco to dangerous levels
Dec 17, 2003 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX)

The demand for cannabis in Europe is driving more farmers in Morocco to cultivate the plant at the expense of legal crops, resulting in a growing industry now worth about $12 billion, according to a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The first cannabis cultivation survey in Morocco, conducted by the Government and UNODC, confirms the country's role as the main producer of cannabis resin, or hashish. The report estimates the Arab state's raw cannabis production for 2003 at 47,000 metric tons corresponding to a potential hashish production of 3,080 metric tons. Both substances are mainly supplied to the European markets. The amount of cannabis cultivation in 2003 suggests an increase in the past few years, which, according to the report, is often detrimental to other agricultural activities.

This phenomenon of monoculture is dangerous for the ecosystem, especially because the farmers are making an extensive use of fertilizers and overexploit the soil. Moreover, forested areas, which are among the specificities of the mountainous chain of the Rif area, are destroyed every year to accommodate new cannabis fields, thus accelerating soil erosion. "Europe's drug habits are at the heart of the illegal activity, which is explained but not justified by the poverty of the Rif population," said Executive Director of UNODC Antonio Maria Costa in Rabat following the release of the survey.

Cannabis cultivation in Morocco is concentrated in the five provinces of the northern region along the Rif. One province alone - Chefchaouen - amounts to 50 percent of cultivation and 43 percent of potential production of raw cannabis, followed by Taounate, Al-Hoceima and the provinces of Larache and Tetouan. The survey estimates cannabis cultivation at about 134,000 hectares in the five northern provinces. This represents 10 percent of the total area and 27 percent of the arable lands of the surveyed territory and 1.5 percent of Morocco's total arable land. In the cannabis production area, 75 percent of the villages and 96,600 farms were found to produce cannabis in 2003. This amounted to 66 percent of the total numbers of farms in the surveyed area and 6.5 percent of the total number of farms in Morocco. Sold 66 percent in raw form and 34 percent transformed into powder form, cannabis production enabled the producers to raise a total revenue of approximately $214 million in 2003. This represents 0.57 percent of Morocco's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated at $37.3 billion. Canabis producing farms represent a total population of about 800,000 persons, 2.5 percent of Morocco's total population estimated at 29.6 million in 2002. The average income per family generated by cannabis was estimated at $2,200 and represented on average half of the total annual income of a cannabis producing family in 2003. In 2001, Spain was the country with largest hashish seizures with 57 percent of total world seizures and 75 percent of all seizures in Europe. Morocco was the third on that list with seven percent of global seizures. - (menareport.com) By Mena Report Reporters (C) 2003 Albawaba.com, All rights reserved.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=351w2856&section=Countries&page=Morocco&ch annel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C

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