Washington had decided to quadruple non-military aid to Morocco partly to boost anti-terrorism efforts.
Morocco's annual inflation hits 3.4 pct in Sept
2004 holidays for all will benefit 150,000 children
Moroccan Solidarity Foundation Paid Over US $150 Mln in Humanitarian Actions from 1998 to 2003
H.M. King Mohammed VI Launches 6th Nationwide Solidarity Week
Over US$ 7 Mln Earmarked Annually by Mohammed V Foundation for Ramadan Operation
Morocco purchases two mobile water labs
Morocco Takes Preventive Measures against Locust Invasion
Family law reform in Morocco prepares new ground for democratization process, diplomat
Moroccan Human Rights NGO lauds family code reform
EU and Morocco agree trade deal
Morocco, EU Agree on Gradual Liberalization of Agriculture Trade
Some 5,000 athletes to take part in Marrakech international marathon
Study finds 82% of two million Moroccan immigrants live in EU countries
Morocco poised to become crossroads for energy transit, official
Morocco's telecom boom grinds to a halt

Washington had decided to quadruple non-military aid to Morocco partly to boost anti-terrorism efforts.

RABAT - US envoy William Burns on Tuesday announced a tripling of aid to Morocco, partly to boost anti-terrorism efforts in the north African country, hit by a string of suicide bombings in May. The US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and North African affairs said during a visit to Rabat that Washington has decided to quadruple non-military aid to Morocco, raising it to 40 million dollars from next year.
The money will go partly towards supporting the fight against terrorism, he said, adding that US military aid would be doubled, to 20 million dollars.
The suicide attacks in the economic capital Casablanca in May, the first of their kind in Morocco, claimed 45 lives including those of 12 assailants from a local Islamic extremist group with suspected direction from abroad. Burns also urged a political solution to the long-running dispute over Western Sahara, a mineral-rich territory annexed by Morocco nearly three decades ago.

"The US does not support a solution that is imposed on Morocco, or on any other of the parties," Burns said, adding: "Rather we urge the parties to work constructively with the UN and with each other to find a way forward."  Rabat and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front have disputed sovereignty of the Western Sahara since Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975. The Polisaro Front has accepted a plan drafted by former US secretary of state James Baker under which Western Sahara would have a large degree of autonomy during a five-year transition period, followed by a referendum on self-rule, but Morocco rejected it.  Last week Morocco accused UN Secretary General Kofi Annan of deliberately misinterpreting a Security Council resolution on Western Sahara when he urged in a report to the council that Rabat reply definitively to Baker's plan before the end of the year.  Rabat has said implementation of the plan, backed by the Security Council on July 30, would pose "major risks" for security and stability in the region. Burns, said he had stressed "the important work that lies ahead for the countries in this region to resolve for future generations the issue of Western Sahara." Burns, who was to leave the region later Tuesday, having also visited Tunisia and Algeria, said Washington and Rabat would likely sign a free trade accord by the end of the year.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=7568
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Morocco's annual inflation hits 3.4 pct in Sept

RABAT, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Morocco's inflation was 1.2 percent in September from August, bringing the annual rate to 3.4 percent, well above the government forecast for the whole of 2003, a senior government official said on Thursday. The government inflation forecast for this year is 2.0 percent. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), hit its highest annual level of the year in September. "The rise stemmed from a 2.3 percent rise in foodstuff prices in September fuelled by strong demand and a relative shortage in fresh products caused by the summer's heatwave," the official from the state Statistics Directorate told Reuters.

Foodstuff products make up around 45 percent of the CPI's total weighting. Non-foodstuff products' index rose 0.4 percent, the official added. The average monthly inflation rate for the first nine months of this year stands now at 0.6 percent, the official added. The rise in foodstuff prices was caused mainly by the seasonal summer increase in consumption which coincides with higher tourist arrivals and annual visits by over 1.5 million Moroccan expatriates. ((Reporting by Souhail Karam; editing by David Stamp; Reuters Messaging: souhail.karam.reuters.com@reuters.net; +212-37 720065))

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=1067518783nL30646458&Section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C
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2004 holidays for all will benefit 150,000 children Morocco,

Culture, 10/28/2003

Morocco's secretary of state for youth, Mohamed El Gahs, said next year's "holidays for all" program will benefit 150,000 children, up by 50% compared to the first campaign held in 2003. El Gahs, who was chairing a meeting to assess the 2003 holiday camps programs, said increasing the number of recipients is another challenge requiring important preparations in order to avoid errors and loopholes of last year's program, in addition to a strong involvement of all those involved.  The official went on that in addition to the holiday camps, his department has also earmarked 1 million DH (US$ 100,000) to 2,400 projects of equipment refurbishment and the construction of 1,000 sports grounds. He also insisted that youth training and teaching to teenagers the principles of citizenship and human rights are the best guarantees to deepening the modernist democratic project.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031028/2003102832.html
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Moroccan Solidarity Foundation Paid Over US $150 Mln in Humanitarian Actions from 1998 to 2003

RABAT, Oct.31 - The Moroccan Mohammed V solidarity foundation has paid a total of 1.57 billion Dhs (US $157 million) from 1998 to 2003 in humanitarian actions in Morocco and abroad. On the international scale, the foundation has conducted humanitarian actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. It also assisted Algeria following the floods and earthquake that hit the country last year. The solidarity foundation carried out 450 projects in Morocco for the protection of children, girls' schooling, fighting illiteracy, the integration of handicapped persons and the improvement of living conditions of thousands of needy populations.

It also revamped and built 260 centers for children, 10 for elderly people, 8 dormitories for students and 19 centers for disabled people and participated in the implementation of 50 projects of vocational training and cultural, educational and sports activities for the youth. Besides, the foundation supplied specialized hospitals with equipment and carried out 40 sustainable development projects to supply hamlets with electricity and potable water, fight desert encroachment and illiteracy and finance socio-economic projects. It also distributed funds to several associations to assist them in the implementation of their programs.
© MAP 2003
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm
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H.M. King Mohammed VI Launches 6th Nationwide Solidarity Week

CASABLANCA, Oct.31 - H.M. King Mohammed VI, who was accompanied by Prince Moulay Rachid, on Friday gave the green light to the 6th nationwide annual solidarity week. At the opening of the ceremony, two recipients of schooling and anti-illiteracy programs organized by the Mohammed V solidarity foundation made presentations on programs carried out by the Foundation that enabled thousands of children, including handicapped children to receive education and social assistance.

The sovereign awarded medals to several figures active in social work. During the same ceremony, H.M. the king handed out donations by the Mohammed V solidarity foundation to four associations active in supporting handicapped persons, community development, helping abandoned children and people suffering from kidney diseases. The sovereign then distributed certificates to ten recipients of the foundation-financed literacy programs.

Mohamed El Azami, member of the foundation administrative board, read out a presentation about the broad lines of the foundation's 2003-2007 action plan. He said the action plan that grants priority to education, training and consolidating a policy of proximity towards women and young people as well as sustainable development will reinforce the institution's role as a major social actor by involving in its activities local councils, associations, companies and foreign partners.

In a bid to reinforce its participation and mutual assistance policy, the foundation is projecting to encourage initiatives geared to encouraging the spirit of citizenship among young people through the creation of networks to spearhead voluntary activities and deepening citizenship values.

The sovereign also presided over the signing of seven conventions for sustainable development, education, humanitarian action, medical caravans, citizenship and voluntary activities networks between the foundation and Moroccan and foreign partners.

The first convention signed with the French institute (cultural center) provides for projects to supply drinking water to rural areas while the second convention linking the foundation to the Moroccan education and youth ministry means to support the program of building girls' dormitories in rural areas. Another convention concluded with the French Foundation "Hopitaux de France", chaired by the French first lady, provides for the carrying out of joint humanitarian projects. Another convention sealed with the Moroccan health ministry associates the civil rescue, three physicians associations and private gynecologists of Casablanca. Three other conventions were signed with higher education institutions to promote the values of citizenship and volunteering.
© MAP 2003
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm
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Over US$ 7 Mln Earmarked Annually by Mohammed V Foundation for Ramadan Operation

RABAT, Oct.31 - The Mohammed V solidarity foundation has earmarked since its creation in 1999 over 70 million DH (US$ 7 mln) to the Ramadan operation in both rural and urban areas. The Ramadan operation, which consists in distributing fast-breaking meals and foodstuffs to needy populations nationwide, is financed by the ministry of Habous (Islamic endowments) and Islamic affairs, the interior ministry's department of local councils and by the foundation itself, says the Foundation's 2001-2002 financial report.

The report also indicates that the 5th annual solidarity campaign collected as at last May 176.4 million DH (about US$ 17.7 mln), including 120.8 Mln DH in cash donations. Regarding the 2002-2003 budget, the source says it amounts to 395.7 million DH (about US$ 40 million), which is higher than last year's budget as a result of the completion of some projects and the impact of new projects scheduled for the 2002-2003 FY. The foundation also owns real estate assets, estimated as at October 2002 to 59.8 million DH (about US$ 6 million).
© MAP 2003
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Morocco purchases two mobile water labs Morocco,

Environment, 10/28/2003 Morocco has purchased two on-wheel labs to control water behavior and quality in places that are not covered by its water-monitoring stations network. It intends to add two more before the end of the year. The 4WD vehicles, fitted with sophisticated data-processing equipment, were tested for the first time Saturday in a Mohammedia (near Casablanca) river in the presence of secretary of state in charge of water, Abdelkebir Zahoud. With the German-made mounted labs, authorities can carry out swift and flexible operations in remote and difficult areas to help make accurate decisions.

According to a document of the secretariat of state in charge of water, over 390 including 50 priority sites have been classified. All of them have been analyzed to finalize a prevention program. Climatic changes have caused floods in several regions of the kingdom, Zahoud said, during the Saturday tests, stressing Morocco's important efforts in the field, especially at the level of cities, through its five-year Nationwide Plan of Floods Fighting. Special focus is laid on areas that were flooded last years such as Western Mohammedia, Settat and Berrechid, and the southern city of Tan Tan which was flooded this August. Morocco has 170 stations equipped with radio-transmitters scattered all over the country and sending regular information on the hydraulic situation.

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031028/2003102831.html
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Morocco Takes Preventive Measures against Locust Invasion

RABAT, Oct.29 - A ministerial meeting was held to probe the threat of a locust outbreak and take preventive measures.Several officials, including minister of the interior and minister of agriculture and rural development, respectively Mustapha Sahel and Mohand Laenser, and top military and civil rescue officers took part in the meeting.

The meeting was held after reports by FAO warned that desert locust outbreaks in Mauritania, Niger and Sudan may locally threaten crops and spread to neighboring countries. In Morocco, some insects were reported in the southern regions of Dakhla, Aousserd, Laayoune and Al Farcia.

Head of the national anti-locust center, El Ghaout, told reporters that Morocco has been following closely the situation and enforced prevention procedures at the borders. These measures will be reinforced according to the evolution of the situation by reactivating the monitoring bodies in the southern bordering regions and providing them with pesticides as well as mobilizing ground prospecting teams that are equipped with transmission means and five planes to spray pesticides.

Desert locusts outbreaks were reported in northwestern Mauritania, northern Niger and northeastern Sudan, FAO said. Desert locusts are normally solitary scattered insects but when climatic conditions are favorable, for example after good rains and a mild temperature, they can rapidly increase in number, FAO said. After several years of drought, rains have expanded in the affected areas, the agency noted.
© MAP 2003
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Family law reform in Morocco prepares new ground for democratization process, diplomat

Politics, 10/28/2003 The proposed reforms of the Moroccan Family Law (Mudawana) announced by King Mohammed VI on Oct.10 prepares new ground for the process of democratization and modernization in Morocco, Moroccan ambassador in Washington Aziz Mekouar said. Under the new reforms, women will have more rights in marriage and divorce and the age of marriage will be raised from 15 to 18 years old for girls.
The new plan which is submitted to parliament for approval will make polygamy almost impossible.

The Moroccan diplomat believes that the project, whose objective is to protect the rights of women and the family in general, is in tune with the requirements of the present time and proves that Islam's teachings are not in contradiction with modernity but are rather the bases for human evolution and democratic values. This came at a meeting held in Montgomery University, as part of debates scheduled by the US-Arab Friendship Caravan that is designed to increase understanding between Americans and Arabs, fight stereotypes and dispel misconceptions between Americans and Arabs about both cultures.

The caravan will travel in the United States and will stop in hundreds of cities and towns where discussions and artistic performances will be organized by permanent Arab and US volunteers, said Michael Kirtley, a renowned photojournalist who initiated the project.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031028/2003102828.html
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Moroccan Human Rights NGO lauds family code reform 

Politics, 10/29/2003 The Moroccan Organization of Human Rights has lauded the reforms of the Mudawana (family law) announced by King Mohammed VI in his speech at the opening session of the parliament fall. The reforms, which consecrate equality of sexes and do justice to women, reflect a sound application of Ijtihad (jurisprudence) and the synergy between Islamic and universal values, a release from the NGO's says.

The human rights body also exhorts political authorities to shoulder their responsibilities in translating the reforms into facts, and to activate the amendments as soon as possible in the best conditions.

Under the new reforms announced by the king, the family will be placed under the shared responsibility of the two spouses, marriage age for women will be brought to 18 years, inheritance will not systematically favor males, and polygamy will be conditioned to stringent conditions that make it almost impossible. Among the other highlights of the new text, repudiation will be cancelled and only judiciary divorce shall be valid. Children protection was also enhanced under the new law that grants guardianship to the mother even if she remarries.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031029/2003102924.html
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EU and Morocco agree trade deal

The EU and Morocco are to open up their markets for agricultural goods in a new bilateral trade deal struck at the weekend. In a display of diplomatic back-scratching, Morocco will enjoy preferential EU market access for 96 percent of its produce, while European producers will see 62 percent of their agricultural goods gain easier access to Morocco. "This is real progress," said EU agriculture chief Franz Fischler. "The agreement is well balanced. Opening the markets will benefit both Morocco and the EU."

The EU has offered Morocco better terms for tomato imports which have traditionally been a sensitive issue between the two sides. "Our tomato producers will finally have a clear perspective of the conditions and volumes of tomato imports into the EU," said Fischler. Morocco will see its current 150,000 tonnes of tomato exports raised to 175,000 tonnes with annual increases of 15,000 tonnes allowed over the following four years.

This is likely to upset producers in Spain, France and Portugal - the heartland of EU tomato production. In return, Rabat has agreed to open up its market to soft wheat from Europe, cutting 38 percent off import tariffs. Other products in line for lower duties and increased quotas are powdered milk and cream, poultry, eggs, butter, cheese, dried fruit and vegetables, apples, pears, cereals and vegetable oils. The agreement is the end-point of discussions started back in January 2001 within the framework of a 1995 partnership deal aimed at liberalising bilateral trade by 2012. The European Commission and EU governments still have to formally approve the agreement before it can enter into force.
http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/d8b08087-d5dc-42ba-bdc3-888ac189e6ba.htm
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Morocco, EU Agree on Gradual Liberalization of Agriculture Trade

BRUSSELS, Oct.25 - Morocco and the European Commission initialled here Friday an agreement on mutual liberalization of agriculture products trade which will be enforced as of December 2003. For Moroccan tomatoes exports, the agreement will be applied retroactively starting October 1st, a source close to European Commission's Morocco mission said. The source also said that the agreement will be signed in Morocco at a date to be set.

For Franz Fishler, the European commissioner in charge of agriculture, the accord marks a "genuine headway" and a "well-balanced arrangement." The mutual opening of markets will benefit both Morocco and Europe as European tomato producers will finally have a clear visibility on the conditions and volumes of tomato imports into the EU. The agreement crowns one year and a half of hard talks between negotiators.

The two parties had reached end of September an agreement on Moroccan low-duty tomato exports to the Union, which will amount to 190,000 tons this year, and 220,000 tons in four years. In exchange, Morocco will import 0.4 million to one million tons of low-duty European wheat, depending on national production. Moroccan fruits and vegetables producers and exporters have voiced satisfaction with the agreement, which "does not meet our expectations at 100% but provides better visibility for the years to come in terms of investment, production and upgrading."
The association of fruits and vegetables producers has voiced in a release "confidence in the future" concerning the agriculture component of the Moroccan-European association accord.. © MAP 2003
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm
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Some 5,000 athletes to take part in Marrakech international marathon

Regional, Sports, 10/28/2003 Some 5,000 athletes from several countries will participate in the 15th edition of the Marrakech international marathon to be held next January 18, said organizers. Chairman of the organizing committee, Mohamed Knidiri, told a press conference a budget of 800,000 Dhs (US $80,000) was earmarked to this edition in which 2,000 foreign athletes will participate. Knidiri recalled that several cooperation and partnership agreements were signed with organizers of other international marathons for the promotion of this important sport rendezvous. Under an agreement with the organizers of Paris Marathon, at least 1,000 French athletes will take part in the Marrakech Marathon.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031028/2003102829.html
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Study finds 82% of two million Moroccan immigrants live in EU countries

Morocco-European Union, Local, 10/31/2003 Almost 82% of two million Moroccan immigrants are settled in the European Union countries, says a joint study by Organization for international Migration (OIM) and the Hassan II foundation for Moroccans living abroad. The study, an analysis of new tendencies of Moroccan migration in six European countries (Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and the Netherlands), finds that the Moroccan community is the largest non-European foreign community in Belgium, Spain, and Italy while in France Moroccans are estimated at 800,000 persons. The study, covering 80 to 87% of Moroccans settled abroad, will serve as an analysis tool for the Moroccan foundation to adopt more targeted and more efficient actions. Other analyses covering other regions will be conducted to complete this first study. Anthropologists, academics, sociologists and statisticians from Morocco and the six EU countries took part in the study.
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Morocco poised to become crossroads for energy transit, official

Morocco-Regional, Economics, 10/25/2003 Morocco is becoming a crossroads for energy transit thanks to the Gas and electric interconnections with Europe (Gazoduc Maroc Europe), Moroccan energy and mines minister, Mohammed Boutaleb, said Thursday. The official underlined at a press briefing on prospects of natural gas in Morocco that the kingdom can be considered today an energy transit towards Europe, the Maghreb and the Middle East. As soon as interconnections between Algeria and Tunisia will be set up, Morocco will also be a transit towards southern countries through Mauritania, Senegal and other northwestern African countries, he went on. He also cited the signing in 2002 of a build-and-operate contract of the first combined cycle power plant in Tahaddart (30 Km south of Tangier) which will be operational in 2005. The project will cost 285 million Euro and will account for nearly 17 percent of the national electricity production, he added.
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Morocco's telecom boom grinds to a halt:  Authorities have abandoned early reform efforts 'For the government, the sector is a source of revenue that's all. There's no strategic aspect to their thinking'

Issandr El Amrani Special to The Daily Star

RABAT: Until recently, Morocco was a model for telecoms liberalization not only in the Middle East and North Africa region, but for much of the developing world. A latecomer to the information age, Rabat had taken a giant leap forward by creating an independent and dynamic regulator and taking advantage of the dotcom fever to fetch previously unseen prices for telephone licenses. But now, three years after the "Moroccan miracle," the situation could not be more different. IT and telecom industry insiders say that the government has abandoned its early efforts at reform and is hampering the development of the sector. A combination of lack of vision and influence peddling is not only scaring away foreign investors, they say, but slowing the country's development.

The early days of Morocco's telecom revolution now form the textbook example on how to liberalize the telecom sector and have been applauded by the World Bank. The government created an independent regulator headed by Mustafa Terrab, a dynamic reform-minded technocrat and turned the historic operator into an independent company, Maroc Telecom, to begin the privatization of the industry. By the time Terrab had organized the sale of the first private GSM license in 1999, foreign investors were so confident in the Moroccan market that the world's top telephone companies fought hard to be the first to enter it. The winner, a consortium led by Spain's Telefonica and Portugal's Portugal Telecom, paid a hefty $1.1 billion for the license the highest amount ever paid anywhere for a telephone license. To put it in context, it was five times the value of Egypt's first GSM license, although Morocco has less than half the population. When the new consortium began operations in early 2000, the number of mobile subscribers started to expand exponentially, taking it past the number of fixed subscribers in a mere eight months.

At the end of 2000, it was France's Vivendi Universal that entered the local telecom market, grabbing a 35 percent share and management rights in Maroc Telecom for $2.3 billion. Even when Vivendi Universal later ran into financial troubles, it decided to keep its shares in the company a move that analysts saw as a sign of the company's confidence in Maroc Telecom prospects. However, it was then that things began to go wrong. Terrab eventually resigned and now heads the World Bank's telecom regulation project. A planned second fixed license sale, scheduled for 2001, dragged on for over a year. When it finally came to the market, the Sept. 11 attacks and the dot-com bubble burst ensured that Morocco found no buyers.

"Morocco was a reference case for telecoms," says Ramon Encison, Meditel's general director. "But the authorities have to wake up. For the government, the telecom sector is a source of revenue that's all. There's no strategic aspect to their thinking." Enciso and many other entrepreneurs in the telecom sector lament the lack of separation between Maroc Telecom, regulatory body Agence Nationale de Reglementation des Telecommunications (ANRT), and the government such as the fact that several members of the ANRT's board of directors are ministers and that three others are also board members of Maroc Telecom. The CEO of Maroc Telecom, Abdeslam Ahizoune, also headed the company before Vivendi Universal became a shareholder, when he was minister of telecommunications. Many feel that his continued presence is harming the sector's reputation. "Ahizoune was 'Mr. Telecoms' in Morocco for many years, and can't seem to bear the idea that he might control less than 85 percent of the market,"said an industry watcher.

As one might expect, Maroc Telecom sees it another way. "The law says that interconnection rates must reflect costs," says Mohammed Hmadou, the company's director of network and services. "Do you think that it's normal that Meditel wants to increase them while around the world they are getting lower? ... Meditel wants to live off interconnection rates, but Maroc Telecom is not a cash cow." It is not only in the telephony market that people resent Maroc Telecom.Many also blame the company for limiting the growth of internet users in the country, which remains at a paltry estimated 600,000 users because of prohibitive prices.

Although Morocco saw a small internet boom in the late 1990s, with dozens of small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) setting up shop, in 2000 Maroc Telecom decided to aggressively enter the market. Within a year most ISPs had closed. "The cost of connecting to the internet in Morocco is eight times that of France," complains Karl Stanzick, the head of MTDS, the first ISP in Morocco. "That's limiting the market's growth, all because Maroc Telecom would rather make a lot of money from a few users than a little money from many users."

Again, Maroc Telecom begs to differ. "The accusation that we are blocking internet growth is very unjust," says Francois Lucas, Maroc Telecom's director of fixed and internet services. He explains that Morocco's high prices are because of uncertainty about the market's elasticity he is not sure that lowering prices will create a rush of new users. "The internet right now is not very lucrative," he adds, blaming the lack of content targeted specifically to Moroccans. And like his competitors, he blames the ANRT for not taking steps to encourage internet growth.
In early September, King Mohammed VI appointed a new head of the ANRT, Mohammed Benchaaboun. Benchaaboun has said that he will focus on putting the liberalization of the sector back on track, with a second fixed license being a priority. After negotiations with Maroc Telecom, he has also brought down the price of leased internet lines whose prohibitive costs previously hurt independent ISPs from competing. While unlikely to fetch the same prices as the first GSM license did one ANRT source suggested $100 million would be about the limit it may help put back on track a sector that has seen little progress since a promising start.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/business/27_10_03_d.asp

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