Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Rumsfeld in Morocco
[Image]The upcoming visit of US secretary of State for Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, is in the framework of "dialogue" between Morocco and the United States, affirmed Thursday Communication Minister, Nabil Benabdellah. The Minister appears to have been trying to play down any potential protests at the visit by using a press briefing to describe Rumsfeld's visit to Morocco as "ordinary," adding it is part of "visit exchanges between Moroccan and American officials." Rumsfeld is also due to visit Algeria and Tunisia.

Rumsfield and a US military delegation will be received by HM King Mohammed VI to discuss the situation in the Arab world, mainly in Iraq and the Maghreb. Bilateral military cooperation and the war on terrorism will be also the focus of his discussions with the Moroccan Sovereign, said AFP.

His visit comes after that of the FBI director Robert Mueller who paid a two-day visit to Morocco this week. In an exclusive interview with Groupe Maroc Soir, the FBI head said that the US and Maghreb countries have to work closely together to exchange information to prevent attacks and criminals from preying on our people. Therefore, associations and friendships between our countries are exceptionally important.

In his meeting with King Mohammed VI, Mueller stressed that the War on Terrorism addresses certainly those few individuals who would undertake terrorist attacks. But, he said “we also have to work with the social structure, developing the jobs and opportunities that King Mohammed VI has in his vision over the last several years.”

Mueller also met with his Moroccan security counterpart and discussed ways in which they continue to cooperate together in the area of exchanging expertise on fingerprints, fingerprint databases, on giving assistance and developing a DNA database structure so that in the future they can exchange these forensic tools and be able to address these terrorism threats.

Rumsfield's visit coincides with the handing over to the Moroccan authorities of three Moroccans, formerly detained in the American Base in Guantanamo Bay. Najib Lahssini, Mohamed Souleimani Laalami and Mohamed Ouali are now under the supervision of the General Prosecutor of Casablanca.

The United States sent five Moroccan detainees home from Guantanamo in 2004, but the five have since been in and out of detention and questioning by police over their suspected links with radical Islamist cells.

Morocco, a staunch U.S. ally in the region, has been clamping down on suspected cells of Islamic radicals since 2003, when multiple suicide bombings in Casablanca killed 45 people and shocked the normally peaceful country.Local lawyers and rights groups say more than 20 Moroccans are still held prison by Guanatanamo.Morocco's main independent human rights group, the Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH), urged Moroccans to take to the streets in Rabat on Sunday to protest against expanded security cooperation with the United States."The protest will express the Moroccan people's opposition to integrate Morocco in the U.S. military and security plans under the disguise of opposition to terrorism. Such cooperation threatens Morocco's security and independence," the AMDH said in statement.
Tourist boom continues
[Image]Moroccan horsewomen
Tourists visiting Morocco have totalled, in 2005, 5,843,377, a rise of 7% in comparison to 2004, according to the statistics of the Tourism Ministry. The figures say French citizens rank first as they totalled over 1.33 million, that is a 15% increase. They outnumbered Spaniards (367,811; +16%) and the British (193,552; +29%). The ministry noted that Moroccan expatriates comprised 47% of the total number of tourists, as they stood at 2,787,825. However, it said, their arrivals only increased 1% in comparison to 2004. Germans, Belgians, Italians, Maghrebans, American and mid-east citizens are among the most numerous clients of the north African kingdom, according to the same source.

Casablanca Book Exhibition

[Image]HM King Mohammed VI

The Moroccan Ministry of Culture is organising the 12th “Salon International de l'Edition et du Livre” (SIEL 2006) organised this year under the theme “The Maghreb, 50 Years of Independence.”

The book fair, held under the patronage of HM King Mohammed VI, was officially inaugurated today by the Sovereign. Its public activities will run through to February 19. More than 150 writers, intellectuals and publishers from 58 countries will gather in the event which includes round tables, conferences, book signing ceremonies, in addition to a book exhibition.

Books presented in SIEL 2006 cover literature, human sciences, social sciences and current affairs, with special focus on works discussing issues related to the Maghreb. Three Maghreban intellectuals will be honoured during the event: Moroccan Abdellah Ibrahim, Algerian Jamaleddine Benchikh, and Tunisian Mahmoud Messadi. Three exhibition rooms will bear the intellectuals' names.

The event will be held in the Grand Palais de la Foire de Casablanca (Casablanca's Fairs Palace) which covers an area of 19,000 m2. An open library will be made available on the occasion, where visitors will have the possibility to check some 1,000 books about the Maghreb, in addition to “The Maghreb Index”, a document edited and presented by the King Abdul-Aziz al Saoud Foundation.

Young people will have an animation space where meetings with authors and workshops of painting, cartoons, theatre, and writing will be organised. Morocco will be represented by some 60 publishing houses. About 20 Algerian editors, 20 Tunisian, and 11 Libyan will be present in the fair.

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