FOM News Roundup 112903

Over 60% of maids working in Casablanca families are aged less than 15years, and 84% of this rate is illiterate, says a study by the Moroccan observatory of Children rights (ONDE).

The figures were released by the observatory during an encounter held in Casablanca to examine the situation of children in the Casablanca region and set priorities in the field.

ONDE's study also found that 25% of children live with their families in a single room and another 40% live in a two-room lodging. Fifty percent of children and teens who were asked about their aspirations said they dream of better understanding within the family and a good education. However, only 5% of polled kids and teens said they are interested in associations action.

Meanwhile, parents said they are mainly concerned by problems of drugs and tobacco addiction for males and rape and violence for girls.

The conference also heard a report on children labor presented by Malek Benchekroun, delegate of the international program for the abolition of children labor. The report shows that out of an official number of 600,000working children, the program has succeeded in helping 3,000 children.

The international program's delegate also noted Morocco's remarkable efforts to end the phenomenon of children working in hazardous jobs, especially after the adoption of the new labor code. The code, to be enforced starting next year, provides for stringent sanctions against adults who employ children in hazardous occupations

The US has launched, in the framework of the currently negotiated free trade agreement with Morocco, a US$ 3 million program to fight child labor. “Initiative Education," which is subject to a partnership between the US labor department and the Moroccan government, will be run by the company Management Systems International (MSI), which started working on the project early October, 2003. The program aims at fostering awareness of the importance of education and mobilizing involved parties to improve education infrastructure.

The local command of the fire department here said the absence of fire hydrants and difficulties to access the old district (Medinah) of Fez have hampered the job of fire squads who were called for a blaze in a traditional shoe-making workshop, that left five teens dead.

The fire department chief, Zine Dine Oumoumou, confirmed that five girls, aged between 14 and 17, who were working in the small plant died and said one corpse could not be taken out of the blaze site until 4.00 in the morning. He added that the job of fire fighters in this old district of Fez, where around 160,000 inhabitants live, was made difficult by the absence of fire hydrants, narrow streets and access difficulties.

The victims who were working in a mezzanine floor were unable to flee when the fire broke out. The fire department official also said the three-story building should not have been turned into a workshop as hygiene, safety and health conditions were not gathered. MAP 2003 http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm

Morocco will host next February an international encounter of first ladies on the promotion of women's conditions, said here on Thursday Senegal’s First Lady, Viviane Wade, who is member of the organizing center.

The international development center for women's promotion will hold its 5thsession in Casablanca, after its 4th session in Dakar in December 2000.

The center brings together first ladies from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Europe, as well as experts to ponder on means to promote women’s conditions, especially in rural areas. On the Casablanca conference agenda are several issues related to rural women and economic promotion, rural women and bio products, consolidating rural women's organizations, creation of village enterprises and access to production resources.

27-11-2003 5:00 pm How to restore and preserve the historical heart of coastal cities, without driving away their inhabitants, while respecting traditional building criteria as well as modern norms, with the participation of local craftsmen and the support of local and governmental authorities That is the multiple challenge the "Urban Development and Freshwater Resources: Small Historical Coastal Cities" project is designed to meet. UNESCO has been developing the project since 1997 in five "case study” cities - Essaouira (Morocco), Mahdia (Tunisia), Omisalj (Croatia), Saļda(Lebanon,) et Jableh (Syria). From November 30 to December 2, 2003, all those involved in the project - architects, urban planners, geologists, hydrologists, local officials and UNESCO experts - will be evaluating its progress in Essaouira, at the invitation of Morocco.

The project's main objective is to promote and propose alternative solutions of sustainable sociocultural and environmental development to the municipalities and ministries concerned. On December 1, the mayors of the case study cities will present the projects carried out in their towns since UNESCO's activities in their municipality, such as expert missions and international seminars on "Urban development: a balance between Land, Sea and Society". The mayors and experts will attempt to evaluate the real impact of these interventions on political decisions taken by municipalities in the choice of new projects or the reorientation of existing ones.

On December 2, the experts will formulate recommendations on the follow-up of the project. They will base their conclusions partly on the evaluation report of the Algerian geographer Rachid Sidi Boumedine. They will also consider municipalities' expectations, partnership offers and the contributions of other United Nations agencies such as UN-Habitat, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).This UNESCO project associates primarily the experts' networks of the MOST Programme (Management of Social Transformations), the IHP (International Hydrological Programme) and the "Coastal Regions and Small Islands" Unit. It is based on the principles of the Istanbul Declaration (Habitat II, 1996)and the ICOMOS Charter on Historical Cities.

A Euro-Mediterranean body for the protection of children's rights protection was set up Friday in Rabat. The international organization will be chaired by Princess Lalla Meryem, head of the National Observatory of Children's Rights (ONDE) and UNESCO goodwill ambassador.

The organization, to be supported by a network of bureaus in France, Lebanon, Switzerland., is the fruit of efforts by international experts and of recommendations of the 2002 Marrakesh Euro-Mediterranean conference on human and children's rights. According to participants to a meeting Friday at the ONDE offices, the newly-created organization will address different problems facing children, mainly exploitation, mistreatment, violence, migration, drugs and AIDS.

The Portuguese government has decided to remove Morocco from the list of countries representing a risk for tourists. Morocco was among a list of 22 countries where, according to Portuguese authorities, there is a risk for tourists because of "terrorism threat, instability or problems of public health". The list was published on the website of the Portuguese foreign affairs ministry. Morocco was added to the list last May 19, three days after the terrorist attacks in Casablanca that killed 45 people including the 12 suicide bombers. The travel advice has not been updated ever since.

Asked about the inexplicable presence on the list of countries whose internal situation is "perfectly normal", Jose Cesario, Portuguese Secretary of State for foreign affairs in charge of communities, told Monday the Portuguese daily "Correio da Manha" that the travel advice is modified whenever there is new information which is the case of Morocco whose current situation, as far as security is concerned, has been taken into account bythe Portuguese government. Morocco is one of the main destinations for Portuguese tourists.

Next year, the Moroccan pharmaceutical sector will adopt the international standard for the treatment of diabetes. The country is slated to adopt a higher dosage of human insulin at 100 units per milliliter (labeled U-100), and will move away from the U-40 strength, or 40 units of insulin per milliliter of fluid in the vial. Although the change is effective June 1st, 2004, the decision is already sparking a heated debate among health professionals and in the pharmaceuticals industry in Morocco. Even though a price has not been set, health officials say that the price of the new insulin will actually be lower than the current one. But others say the change will have a higher impact on prices and are calling for the government to subsidize future consumption. Indeed, diabetes patients in Morocco find U-40 as expensive and could hardly pay more for U-100.

In Morocco, diabetes patients can use the Umiline brand of insulin, which is manufactured and distributed by the Moroccan drugs company Societe Therapeutique Marocaine or Sothema. Umiline is comparable to insulin produced by human pancreas. Novo Nordisk of Denmark is also a supplier to the Moroccan market, producing a different sort of insulin branded Mixtard 30 HM. Although aiming at the same market, with similar doses of insulin, the two products carry different prices and both are considered high for the average Moroccan diabetic patient. Umiline is priced at DH 79.5 and Mixtard 30 HM is sold at DH 92.7.Because of these relatively high prices, the Moroccan government has been subsidizing the sector by spending DH 73 million to purchase insulin for distribution by state hospitals. In the private sector and through private pharmacies, prices are generally considered high and out of reach for the average patient, and that in spite of Morocco's state price fixing policy. Indeed it is the Pharmacies and Drugs Department (direction du médicament et de lapharmacie) within the Ministry of Health that determines pricing, but the vendors are still allowed to lower their prices. However, pharmacies and vendors in general do not find any incentive to lower their prices, in particular to maintain their profit margins.

The economics of the insulin market are indeed important, and are even more important because of the absence of a general health or medical insurance coverage in Morocco. Yet, the number of Moroccans who have diabetes isrelatively large. Health sources estimate that some 6.6% of the population is diabetes and the bulk of these patients have no healthcare coverage. The two largest types of diabetes in Morocco are the so-called Type-1, due essentially to the lack of sufficient production of insulin by individuals. In this category, there is an estimated 120,000 patients. Type 2 is considered a more serious illness. Of the 1.7 million diabetics in Morocco,90% are type 2. Medical specialists blame the ongoing trend toward obesity and overweight as the source of growing numbers of patients.

Moroccan communication minister, Nabil Benabdellah is expected Friday in Italy where he will sign an agreement with Italian officials to carry out the first Euro-Mediterannean Cinematography center that will be built in Ouarzazate (southern Morocco). The Moroccan company "Dagham Film," Italy's Lazio region and "Cineccita" studios will be co-partners in the project that aims to train young Moroccans for cinema professions, the communication ministry announced.

The first thirty students who will study in the center will be selected by a jury and will train for a two-year period. They will be given courses on photography, direction, scenarios, scripts, sound and montage by six Italian teachers. Another group of 28 students will study costumes, lighting effects, hairdressing, makeup in addition to technical and administrative jobs. The selected candidates will take Italian courses for three months and will receive a monthly scholarship. Next week, president of the Italian region of Latium will go to Ouarzazate to attend the studios dedication.

The United Nations committee against torture hailed on Thursday Morocco's" remarkable efforts" to disseminate the human rights culture through education and training. In its final conclusions and recommendations adopted Thursday after it examined Morocco's third periodic report on torture submitted last week, the UN committee said it took note of new positive factors such as the compensation of victims of arbitrary detention, allowing NGOs to visit prisoners and giving human rights culture courses to officials in prisons.

The committee was notably satisfied with the Moroccan delegation's statement on the country's intention to apply the Convention on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The committee lauded Morocco's "political resolve" that was materialized by the release of political prisoners and granting to victims of abusive detention compensations.

The committee against torture also took note of the creation of the Mohammed VI foundation for the integration of prisoners, prisons system reform, new measures to secure health care and the training of prisoners, the creation of Diwan Al Madalim (Ombudsman) and the expansion of the Moroccan human rights advisory council's mandate.

However, the committee recommended that Morocco investigates without delay all allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, especially the cases stated by its arbitration commission. It also recommended that the perpetrators of these acts be appropriately sanctioned and the victims of these practices be fairly compensated.

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031122/2003112220.html

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Moroccan southern provinces member of an international cooperation network
Politics, 11/25/2003

Moroccan southern provinces (Laayoune and Dakhla) have become member of an international cooperation network made up of the Canary Islands (Spain),Azores (Portugal) and Cape Verde (Africa). This membership was announced in Ponta Delgada, Potugal, on Sunday at the end of a two-day meeting that grouped members of the network that is also known as "Regions of Macaronesia" and intends to open a representation in Laayoune to make the membership official.During the meeting held in presence of representatives of the autonomous governments of Canary Islands and Azores, participants pledged to finance in 2004 four social and economic projects in Laayoune and Dakhla.

The Moroccan delegation to this meeting expressed satisfaction at the integration of the Moroccan Saharan provinces into this economic space, madeup of the great archipelagos of the Southern Atlantic, which will allow theman access to Europe and Africa through institutional mechanisms supported by the European Union.

Minister Calls For Modernizing Fisheries Sector in Morocco Rabat, Nov 24 (MAP) - The fisheries sector should be modernized to enable it play fully its role, said, in Rabat Saturday, Moroccan minister offisheries. Taib Rhafes told the Moroccan TV (TVM) his department is working out a five-year strategy for this sector which provides 400,000 jobs and benefits nearly 2 million people. He revealed that this sector has enabled Morocco to have one billion dollars in sales in 2002 and to catch one million tons of fish. These figures, he insisted, can be improved if certain conditions are met. http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031125/2003112523.html

Rabat, Nov. 25 - The European Union hopes that the conclusion of a future agreement with Morocco on the struggle against illegal immigration, will "serve as a model for the Maghreb and for the whole Mediterranean" region, said, here Monday, the spokesman of the European Commissioner for internal affairs and justice.

Pietro Petrucci told the Moroccan TV "2M" that the EU could help Morocco at "several levels" to combat illegal immigration and assist it "as it is doing for other countries". He mentioned in this regard the possibility to provide Morocco with a "technical assistance in matters of borders' control". Concerning the non Moroccan would-be immigrants, notably from Sub-Saharan Africa, who "constitute a social problem for Morocco", the European official said that the EU intends to work out programs or projects to be run by NonGovernmental organizations (NGOs) to help these people. © MAP 2003

The Italian railroad construction company "Ansaldobreda" will soon supply Morocco 18 electric trains that are valued at 143 million Euro. "Ansaldobreda" also received an order from the Moroccan national railway company (ONCF) for 6 other trains, which will bring the global cost of the trains' order to 190 million Euro, "Ansaldobreda" said in a release.

The trains will be operational in 2006 and will carry up to 413 passengers, including 52 in the first-class. The new trains will be modified to reach 160 Km/H and will be equipped with a cafe-restaurant, an air-conditioning system and restrooms. The value of orders received by "Ansaldobreda" in Italy and abroad in 2003was estimated at 553.7 million Euro against 403.8 in the same period last year.

The renowned For Bread Only written by the late Mohammed Choukri, will be adapted into an Italian cinema production by Essebi Cinematographica. After completing the shooting in Italy, the team will now move to Morocco for the last part, said EC executive, Delia de Laurentis. Producers said they chose to adapt the novel for the intensity of the autobiography of Mohammed Choukri, who was self-educated and who succeeded in overcoming marginalization.

Algeria's Rachid Benhadj will write For Bread Only's screenplay. He has made several short films, mainly "Stationnement interdit" (1981), "Le mirage" and"Le fusil" (1983), before turning to long ones such as is "Rose dessables/Louss" (1989) "Touchia" (1992) and "Mirka" (1999).

Mohammed Choukri's character will be played by Franco-Moroccan Said Taghmaoui.The writer died last week in Rabat. Born in 1935, Choukri led a vagabond life and was illiterate until the age of 21. Later, he recounted parts of his life in several books, most importantly in his best seller "for bread alone" which was translated to 39 languages.

This time of the year, the cost of holidays to the Moroccan imperial city of Fez could not have reached lower levels for French holidaymakers. And they have many choices, the latest of which is a package at the five-star Sheraton Hotel of Fez at a lower price than what's being offered by most three-star hotels in the region.

One of the biggest promoters of low-priced packages to Fez is the Internet service lastminute.com via the Yahoo! Web directory. A three-night stay at Sheraton Fez has been priced recently at 250 euros, and that includes the cost of the flight from France. In other hotels with lower rating such as three stars, prices for similar package run at 370 euros.

Area hotels say they are outraged that a five-star luxury hotel competes with them on the lowest priced packages. They liken it to the practice of "dumping and contributes to the impoverishment of the Morocco destination." But can Sheraton be blamed for its competitive practices? In fact, Sheraton is doing what it can to boost its sales amid a weak tourism market. The tourism market in Morocco has been going through a recession phase and for the first nine months of 2003 the entry of foreign tourists continued to decline and revenues have also been falling accordingly. With total arrivals of 233,000, with number of foreign tourists visiting Fez fell by 10% year on year during that period. For hotels, the decline of the number of visitors means declining sales and so the hotel occupation rate fell down to 42%, with the average stay also down to 1.8 days. Hence, the government and the industry felt necessary to stimulate demand through offers that potential visitors could not easily discard.

Sheraton is also responding to the wishes of authorities to attract foreign visitors at all cost. To limit the loss of tourism revenue, the state travel and tourism promotion office ONMT has been implementing an aggressive campaign aimed at attracting French, Spanish and Italian visitors. ONMT's strategy is based on communications efforts targeting those markets, along with the offerings of record-low prices to Fez. In its efforts, ONMT succeeded to convince various operators to contribute and so a key player, Royal Air Maroc agreed to drop its airfares to 150euros for the round-trip Paris-Fez, as part of a travel package that would include lodging. Likewise, hotels agreed on a set of prices that would make the Fez destination very competitive and affordable to southern European tourists.

And Sheraton appears to be the most competitive of all. According to local hotel owners, Sheraton gets 18 euros per room and per person. But Sheraton's management in Fez disagrees and says it is non-sense that the rooms are sold at that price, when the official price is 310 euros. According to local Sheraton officials, the travel agent lastminute.com is seeking to maximize its investments on air travel because it must sell all the seats it purchased in advance. They argue that last minute's marketing strategy is to offer five-star hotel packages at lower prices than three stars as an incentive to attract customers. And so Sheraton would get more like 35 euros rather than 18euros.

Lasminute rival Etapes Nouvelles offers a seven-day package to Sheraton Fez for 385 euros, including airfare, hotel transfer and insurance.

The European Union and Morocco have agreed to boost bilateral trade in farm goods by opening up access to each others' markets, the European Commission said. In particular 96 percent of Morocco's traditional exports to the EU will be given preferential access to EU markets, while 62 percent of such goods from the EU will gain easier access to Morocco, said the EU executive.

"There is real progress. I am glad we have finally reached an agreement," said Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler. "The accord is well balanced. Both Morocco and the EU will benefit from the opening of our markets." Under the accord struck Saturday, Morocco will be allowed to export more tamotoes to the European Union, while EU farmers will pay lower import duties to sell soft wheat in Morocco.

Other products where export quotas will be increased or duties cut include powdered milk and cream, poultry, eggs, butter, cheese, dried vegetables, apples, pears, dried fruit, cereals and vegetable oils. The agreement, struck by negotiators from the Brussels commission and from Morocco, must first be formally approved by the whole 20-member commission and by EU governments to take effect.

The owners of global brands have stepped up legal actions against counterfeiters in Morocco. Regional headquarters of companies like Australia's Quick Silver, the American Ralph Lauren and other well names such as Channel, Cartier, Yves Saint-Laurent and Lacoste have been busy bringing counterfeiters to justice for punishment.

The sale of counterfeit products in Morocco has been growing at an alarming rate. A visit in the El-Bahja market near the famous Jamaa El-Fna in Marrakech provides clear indications of growing trend in the fake-product business. Some one hundred shops are involved in selling gifts and artisan work, from traditional jewelry to the latest in fashion and watches. In El-Bahja, counterfeit products are the norm and merchants are not hiding them. Fake watches with Cartier, Channel and Rolex logos go for DH 700, even before a potential buyer negotiates. Negotiations will bring them to a record low.

There is everything here from Louis Vuitton branded slippers to all the big sports brands. And distinguishing the real from the fake is a big challenge for customers, because, according to many involved in that trade, "fake products are produced by some of the very companies that have been contracted by the big names to produce genuine products." Whether it is true or not, distinguishing a counterfeit product cannot be the sole responsibility of consumers but both manufacturers and law enforcement must be deeply involved in the process.

And global corporations have not been waiting on the sidelines. The latest highly mediatized case was that of two Marrakech businessmen (shop keepers),Mohamed Aamelaoui and Jamal Aamri who have been sentenced in October 2003. The two shop owners, whose businesses are located at the entry of El-Bahja, were caught by Lacoste, Ralph Lauren and Quick Silver distributing products bearing their names. And for each of the brands they carried a court fined them between DH 2,000 and DH 3,000. A commercial court has also been fining them additional amounts for each day of delays in destroying the fake merchandise. And so each businessman had to pay a total of DH 35,000 so far.

Among other legal actions currently underway are three cases for illegal use of the Lacost name in clothing and six others in eyewear. Ralph Lauren is taking legal action against two individuals in Casablanca for the illegal use of the Polo brand and the American Nike is suing seven Casablanca-based businesses for the same offense. Other legal actions include those of Louis Vuitton with not less than 10 cases of counterfeit, in particular among gift shops in Marrakech hotels.

The multiplication of efforts within these global companies was sparked by new laws in Morocco that provide for harsher punishment to counterfeiters. Global brands have indeed deep pockets to protect their intellectual properties and names. Sources say Louis Vuitton, for example, earmarks a 10 million eurobudget to protect its intellectual assets. Lacoste has 3 million euros for the same purpose. For Lacoste, the problem of counterfeit in Morocco is related to local economies and the role of international tourism. To counter the fraudulent use of its name, the company opened seven Lacoste stores across Morocco. By establishing a strong presence, it minimizes the impact of counterfeit and raises its profile in the emerging market.

For those caught and found guilty by a court of law, the punishment is rather steep. Moroccan courts were given the mandate to issue severe sentences and in the cases of Aamelaoui and Aamri were particularly severe because of the low quantities of products found. There were 14 Lacost man shirts, 60 Ralph Loren products and also about 60 Quick Silver products found in their stores. The punishment was so dissuasive that Aamelaoui andAamri converted to traditional handicrafts. Those found guilty include both producers and the counterfeiters proper and those engaged in distribution. Moroccan law punishes local distributors regardless of the source of production, whether domestic or foreign. According to local sources, the bulk of counterfeit originates from Asia and the globalization of trade opened up the door of foreign markets as well. Analysts estimate counterfeit to account for 5% to 7% of global trade, or about $250 billion. Legitimate companies lose up to $300 billion a year on imitations.

But although the cases of Aamelaoui and Aamri were highly mediatized, counterfeiters did not vacate Morocco's market places. El Bahja is still vibrant, and in renown marketplaces like El-Korea in Casablanca and Derb Ghallef, selling counterfeit is a big business. It will take many more than Aamelaoui andAamri to make a dent in the fake business in North Africa.

The aim of the new "Equity and Reconciliation" committee set up by the Moroccan Consultative Council of Human Rights (CCDH) with the King's approval, is to seek truth and shed light on human rights violations committed in the past in Morocco, said, here Saturday, CCDH Secretary General.

Driss Benzekri who was addressing a meeting of the "Forum for the Truth and Justice," attended by Moroccan and French NGOs and human rights activists, said this committee will look into past human rights violations such as forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions, in response to demands of the families of the victims. Benzekri who insisted that the victims will not only be compensated but also rehabilitated, said the "equity and reconciliation" committee will present at the end of its mandate, a report with full details on the different causes, political motivations and responsibilities for these violations committed during the past forty years, before making proposals to authorities that will have to make the appropriate decisions in this issue.

He insisted on the autonomy of this committee and deplored the "exaggerations," the "ideological stances" and the "political exploitation "by some people of this issue, saying that the state encourages all people to participate in the committee's works. Other people took the floor at this meeting, notably former chairman of Amnesty International Denys Robilliard who said the work accomplished by the CCDH so far is a "premiere in the Maghreb even if it is not perfect."

Moroccan athlete and former Olympic champion of 400M hurdles, Nawal El Moutawakel, has been designated vice-chairman of the Athletes Committee of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).El Moutawakel, member of the committee since its creation in 1989, and also member of IAAF since 1995 and of the International Olympic Committee (IOC),was appointed for a new four-year mandate at a meeting in Berlin Sunday.

The Moroccan community legally settled in Spain is 327,000-strong, a figure that includes 45,000 people more than in 2002, a source close to the Spanish ministry of interior said Moroccans, the largest foreign community, represent 20.64% of all Spain-settled foreigners. Out of this figure, only 161,159 are affiliated with the social security system.

The appeal court of Rabat delivered this prison sentences ranging between acquittal and 20 years in jail against a group of 45 individuals called "the Agadir group," in the framework of the anti-terrorism law. The tribunal handed down the 20 years imprisonment to 15 members of the group and acquitted three. The attorney general had required maximum punishment while the defense claimed the innocence of clients for "the benefit of the doubt, contradictions contained in their testimonies and lack of evidence." Charges held against the group includes criminal association to plot and carry out terrorist acts. http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031124/2003112423.html

The Appeal court of Rabat sentenced this Saturday Khalid Adib, a former policeman, to 20 years in jail in the case of the murder, last September, of Alfred Rebibo, a Moroccan Jew in Casablanca. Four co-defendants received 15 years, one was sentenced to 10 years, twoo thers received a 5-year in jail sentence, one person was handed down a 2year prison sentence. Two others were acquitted.

The group that includes two policemen faced charges of criminal association with the aim of plotting and carrying out terrorist acts, non-denunciation, activism within an unauthorized association, unlicensed meetings, possession of cutting weapons and document dissimulation. The Moroccan Jew, Albert Rebibo, was shot dead last September near his shop in Casablanca by two hooded individuals.

A court in Rabat has sentenced 15 people to 20 years in prison for plotting terrorist attacks while 26 other defendants were given jail terms ranging from two to 15 years. Three of the 45 defendants in the so-called "Agadir terrorist cell" were acquitted and another one was fined 3000 dirhams (33 euros), a judicial source said on Saturday. The defendants, all from the southern city of Agadir, were accused of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, offering lodging to a criminal, failure to denounce and attempt to collect funds to commit a terrorist attack. Prosecutors had requested heavy sentences for 12 of the defendants but said23 others were considered less dangerous. Casablanca bombings The prosecution claimed the Agadir cell was part of the banned armed group Salafist Jihad, which is blamed for the 16 May attacks in Casablanca that killed 45 people. Defence lawyers had argued that their clients were innocent and pointed to the lack of evidence against them. In August, a Casablanca court sentenced four Islamist activists to death and dozens more to heavy jail terms for the May attacks. Twelve of the 45 killed in the attack targeting a Spanish restaurant, the Belgian consulate, a Jewish community centre, a cemetery and a hotel, were believed to be the assailants themselves.

RABAT - A court in Rabat sentenced 15 Muslim militants to 20 years in prison on Saturday for plotting terrorist attacks while 26 other defendants were given jail terms ranging from two to 15 years, a judicial source said. Three of the 45 defendants in the so-called "Agadir terrorist cell" were acquitted and another one was fined 3,000 dirhams (330 euros). The defendants, all from the southern city of Agadir, were accused of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, offering lodging to a criminal, failure to denounce and attempting to collect funds to commit a terrorist attack. Prosecutors had requested heavy sentences for 12 of the defendants but said23 others were considered less dangerous. The prosecution claimed that the Agadir cell was part of the banned Islamic militant group Salafist Jihad, which is blamed for the May 16 attacks in Casablanca that killed 45 people. Defense lawyers had argued that their clients were innocent and pointed to the lack of evidence against them. In a separate case, the court sentenced nine radicals to sentences ranging from two to 20 years in prison and acquitted two others in connection with the September 11, 2003 murder of a Jewish shopkeeper in Casablanca. One of the defendants, Khalib Adib, was given 20 years while four others got15 years in jail on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks and arms possession. Two others were given sentences ranging from two to 10 years while another two were acquitted. The defense argued that the court should not take into account a police report that they said was "prepared under duress." "This trial has nothing to do with the assassination of Albert Rebibo in Casablanca," said lawyer Abdessalam Chouqerni. Rebibo, 55, was shot dead at point blank by two masked men on September 11,2003 but police say they have yet to find the two shooters. The 11 defendants in court on Saturday were arrested during the course of the investigation into the Jewish shopkeeper's murder.

An early member of the WTO, a free trade associate of the EU and a candidate for a Free Trade Agreement with the US, Morocco seems to be one of the more dynamic countries in a relatively static region. But Moroccan entrepreneurs now complain that government inaction and behind-the-scenes personality clashes are crippling the growth of the country's IT and telecoms sector, which had gotten off to so promising a start.

Not so long ago, the story of Morocco's advance into the information age was the stuff of legend in the industry. Although it was a latecomer to the Internet and mobile phone technology (with surprisingly low penetration rates until 2000), the industry has boomed over the last three years.

In the late 1990s, the government created an independent telecom regulatory body, headed by reform-minded technocrat Moustafa Terrab, and reinvented thes tate phone operator as an independent company (with the government as a shareholder), re-branded Maroc Telecom, in the hope of catalyzing 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 telephony companies fought hard to be the first ones in

The winner, a consortium led by Spain's Telefonica and Portugal Telecom, paid a hefty $1.1 billion for the license - the highest amount ever paida nywhere for a mobile-phone license. To put it into context, the price tag was five times that of Egypt's first GSM license, bought by MobiNil – even though Morocco has only half the population that Egypt does. When the new consortium began operations in early 2000, the number of mobile subscribers expanded exponentially, taking it past the number of fixed subscribers in only eight months.

At the end of 2000, it was France's Vivendi Universal's turn, grabbing a35-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 widely interpreted as a sign of confidence in Maroc's long-term prospects.

It was at that point, however, that things went wrong. A dispute emerged between Terrab, of the national telecommunications regulatory body, the Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications (ANRT), and NasrHejji, Morocco's secretary of state for information technology, over the speed and scope of sectoral reform. Terrab resigned soon after, and now heads the World Bank's telecom regulation project. A planned second fixed-license sale, meanwhile, scheduled for 2001, dragged on for over a year, but when the license finally came on the market, September 11, along with the dot-com bubble burst, ensured that Morocco found no buyers.

Although bad timing played a role, the license was also viewed as fundamentally flawed by industry observers. It demanded near-universal coverage of Morocco - an expensive investment considering the overwhelming majority of the country's money is concentrated in Rabat, the administrative capital, and Casablanca, the business hub.

GSM growth continued unabated, with over 6 million subscribers for a country of 30 million, the highest penetration rates in the Arab world outside the Gulf. But these high figures obscured less rosy news in other fields. The number of the country's fixed lines, for example, actually decreased in 2000, as many lower-income users migrated from fixed to pre-paid mobile lines. Even now, the number of fixed lines has barely gotten back to the levels seen three years ago.

Meanwhile, many industry insiders claim that the ANRT's vagueness vis-ą-vis interconnection fees with Maroc Telecom have served to stunt liberalization. Since any new entrant's success depends on the price of access to its local loop (the "last mile" of telephone infrastructure that connects to the enduser), investors didn't want to take a leap into the unknown. Besides, they could point to the example of Maroc Telecom and Meditel, still locked in a bitter dispute over interconnection rates, which are, basically, the fee one operator must pay to another when a call comes in from its network. In most cases, when a new operator comes into a country in partnership with a historic - i.e., monopoly - operator, interconnection rates are maintained at a high level, so the new entrant can recover costs quickly. But in Morocco, interconnection rates are well below the world average, meaning that newcomer Meditel must expect to recoup its investment over a longer period than originally planned. After the telecom's appeal to the ANRT to raise the rates was turned down, it brought a lawsuit against Maroc Telecom, but the case has dragged on in court without adjudication. Meditel feels that the ANRT - which until this summer had not held a meeting for several years - has failed to act as an impartial regulator should. "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."

Encison, along with many other entrepreneurs in the sector, laments the increasing closeness of Maroc Telecom, the ANRT and the government – a trilateral relationship exemplified by the fact that several ANRT board members are government ministers while three others sit on the board of Maroc Telecom as well. The CEO of Maroc, Abdeslam Ahizoune, also headed the company before Vivendi Universal became a shareholder, when he was also telecommunications minister. Ahizoune is highly influential in the sector, but many observers feel his continued presence is harming the local industry's reputation. "Ahizoune was 'Mr. Telecom' for many years, and can't seem to bear the idea that he might control less than 85 percent of the market," opined one industry watcher.

As one might expect, Maroc Telecom sees it differently. "The law says that interconnection rates must reflect costs," says Muhammad 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? Our interconnection rates reflect real costs. Meditel wants to live off interconnection rates, but Maroc Telecom is not a cash cow."

It's not only in the market for telephony that Maroc is resented. Many blame the company for also limiting Internet penetration rates, which remain at a paltry 60,000 due to prohibitive communication prices. Although Morocco sawa small Internet boom in the late 1990s, with dozens of small ISPs setting up shop, most of these closed within a year, unable to compete with Maroc Telecom's natural advantages. "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 and one of the few to survive – largely because it operates more as a solution provider to corporate clients than a general public ISP. "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."

But again, Maroc Telecom begs to differ. "The accusation that we are blocking Internet growth is very unjust," said Franēois Lucas, Maroc Telecom's director of fixed and Internet services. He points to many offers Maroc Telecom's Internet brand, Menara, has put on the market, such as a PC bundle sold for 3,700 Moroccan dirhams ($370). He explained that Morocco's high prices are due to uncertainty about the market's elasticity, and doubted that lowering prices would create a rush of new users. "The Internet right now isn't very lucrative," he explained, blaming the lack of quality content targeted specifically to Moroccans.

At any rate, King Muhammad VI appointed a new head of the ANRT in September, and industry players are hoping that this will mean an end to the regulator's inaction and an incentive to further liberalization.

A few days before the appointment, on the same day that it announced the sale of its entertainment branch to NBC, Vivendi Universal said it would exercise its option to buy another 16 percent of Maroc Telecom. According to sources at the ANRT, a new license is likely to be put up for sale soon after the purchase goes through - this time, with much tougher obligations for the investor. The new license may well be a global one, allowing competition on both fixed and mobile networks.

While it's unlikely to fetch the same prices as the first GSM license did(one ANRT source estimated that about $100 million would be about as much as the country could expect), it may help put the wayward sector back on track, after its very promising start. Issandr El Amrani © Business Monthly 2003

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