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Sahel: Algeria’s Proxy War

: HASSAN MASIKY; 05/20/13

Washington / Morocco News Board---Who is benefiting from recent MUJAO terrorist attacks in the Sahel? What party wants to weaken the resolve of the Touareg people and undermine the Azawadi rights to local rule in a unified Mali? To answer these questions, Western diplomats need to take a closer look at the long-term effects of the MUJAO’s military actions and the political implications of a volatile Northern Mali on the regions minorities. MUJAO and Ansar Eddine’s- another terror group active in Mali- activities in the Sahel and the Sahara serve the agenda of one power only, Algeria.

More... 15 comments

Algeria: President Bouteflika's condition grave, Intelligence Chief reportedly ill

: HASSAN MASIKY; 05/18/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--- General Mohamed Mediene, also known as Toufik, Algeria’s secret services boss and the real power broker and the engineer who runs the country’s political system, is reportedly ill. News of Département du renseignement et de la sécurité (DRS) chief poor health, as reported by the well-informed website Slate Afrique, comes at the worst possible time for Algeria.

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Morocco New Diplomatic Postures Unnerve Algeria

: HASSAN MASIKY; 05/14/13

Washington/Morocco News Board-Morocco, a key US ally in the Arab and Muslim worlds, is reviewing “certain” aspects of its relationship with Washington. If the exchange of letters between King Mohamed VI and President Obama and their subsequent phone conversations have effectively put the recent Moroccan-American diplomatic misunderstanding over the Western Sahara behind, Moroccan officials are sober in their assessment of this incident.

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M'Oud Swing: Jazz & Oud

: JAMAL LAOUDI; 05/14/13

Casablanca - Morocco News Board ---- Oud is a musical instrument that can be described as a pear-shaped and a short-necked string instrument characterized by its rich, sonorous sound and rounded back. M’Oud Swing is a band that layers oud and modal jazz improvisation. Both oud and modal jazz are quite difficult to master. The sound the band creates is very unique and can be quite pleasant to the sophisticated ear. Here is Karim Kadiri the band’s co-founder and composer:

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Morocco: A Royal Lesson in Washington

: HASSAN MASIKY; 04/26/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--The Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, released yesterday, is a decisive win for Morocco. This diplomatic triumph came about because of actions and efforts undertaken by King Mohammed VI, some observers noted. The mild text of the resolution demonstrates the extent of Morocco’s success in diluting American attempts to amend the U.N. mission in Western Sahara to include human rights monitoring.

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UN New Report on Western Sahara: A Blueprint for Moroccan Diplomacy

: HASSAN MASIKY; 04/25/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--The much-excepted Report of the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) on the situation concerning Western Sahara was released today to all parties to review and digest. At first glance, the document seems to bring the UN proposals for “a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara” closer to the Moroccan positions.

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Morocco: Protest Music

: CHRIS SILVER; 04/25/13

In the course of the recent Arab uprisings, journalists have paid a surprising amount of attention to the role of music in protests. In general, this has been a welcome development, especially when one considers the all but silent soundscape which those writing about the region have reinforced by ignoring it. However, this has also led to the reifying of the notion that protest music in the region is imported. This manifests itself in the focus on style, usually hip hop, over content.

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Morocco: Extremist Values in Religious School Books

: M. SAOUT; 04/24/13

Morocco News Board -- The activist and researcher at Morocco’s Amazigh Cultural Institute (IRCAM), Ahmed Assid, spoke on Islam and education in Morocco, at a seminar organized by the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) in Morocco’s capital, Rabat.  
Ahmed Assid said that religious education in Morocco " is now outdated, and teaches religious values that contradict universal values of Human rights".

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Algeria: Tension in kabylie Adds to Social Unrest

: HASSAN MASIKY; 04/24/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--- Talk of self-determination for the Kabylie region is back again in full force. Celebrating the 33th anniversary of the Amazigh Spring, the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK) organized several important marches across the Kabylie region in Algeria demanding the right to hold a referendum for self-determination.

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Sarah K: Moroccan-Canadian R&B Singer Talks About her Work

: JAMAL LAOUDI; 04/24/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--- Sarah Karkouch aka Sarah K. is a newly discovered talent that hails from Canada where she was born and raised. She has her own original work, including songs and video clips, and continues to grow and flourish as an artist day after day. While it takes many artists some degree of success before they could get involved in humanitarian causes, Sarah K. jumped from the get go. Here is Sarah in her own words for more on that among other topics.

More... 24 comments

Western Sahara and The US New UN Initiative

: M. CHTAINI; 04/22/13

Looking at how sour the US-Morocco relation have become after being so sweet, one wonders what did really get into the mix and go wrong and aside from what has transpired in the last 4 weeks, we are going to see a lot of flip-flopping showing different contradictory positions in the United Nations, in the White House, in the US Congress, in the US State and Defense Departments and the Central Intelligence Agency, and in the US Mission to the United Nations and in the US embassy in Rabat on the “initiative” about the expansion of the MINURSO role in the Western Sahara. What is happening and who can you believe?

More... 16 comments

Reflections On The New UN Proposal

: M. AZAYI; 04/19/13

The UN could not have chosen a more imprudent and unwise time than by having its officials voting on the draft proposal backed by the United States and trying to pass it as legal authority while hoping that other countries vote for it.

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Morocco-US Relations: Time for Restraint

: HASSAN MASIKY; 04/18/13

Washington/Morocco News Board--The Moroccan-American spat over a U.S. proposal to add human rights monitors to the United Nations mission in the Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, hurts American efforts and weakens a key ally. Morocco’s harsh response to Washington’s sudden shift is unlikely to harm the long-standing relations between the two nations. Nonetheless, Morocco’s rhetoric needs to cool before the situation develops into a full-blown crisis.

More... 9 comments

Western Sahara: What's behind US State Dept. U-turn

: M. CHTAINI; 04/17/13

The US State Department is ‘in discussion’ over proposing the MINURSO expand its mission to include monitoring human rights as confirmed by the US embassy in Rabat. This action could be the outcome of the inability of the former US Ambassador Kaplan to influence the Kingdom of Morocco to budge from its position on Jerusalem.

More... 19 comments

Morocco: High Alert over US Proposal on Western Sahara

: MOHAMED DAADAOUI; 04/16/13

Panic reigned supreme in the halls of Morocco’s government yesterday. All of the political forces of the kingdom were placed on high alert as news surfaced of a US proposal to expand the UN mission in the Western Sahara to include human rights monitoring in the region and the Separatists POISARIO-controlled Tindouf camps in Algeria. Leaders of major political parties and the Moroccan cabinet were summoned to an emergency meeting in the palace. The details of the high level meeting with the king are unknown, but there was a swift statement rejecting the U.S. proposal and a terse condemnation of alleged U.S. “bias and unilateral move.”

More... 7 comments

Kerry's State Dept. Proposal Roils US Ally

: HASSAN MASIKY; 04/16/13

Washington / Morocco News Board----- Morocco is deeply concerned over the potential ramifications of a proposed amendment to the United Nations (U.N.) Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) chart to include human rights monitoring. If the purpose of such revision is to nudge the U.N. negations in a more positive direction, Morocco’s Royal Cabinet considers discussions over human rights observers as a distraction that would lengthen the conflict and may backfire.

More... 17 comments

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