Royal Family of Morocco: Articles, Interviews & Speeches

[Jacqueline]

Moroccan Journalist Jailed For ‘Insulting’ King

RABAT, May 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A Moroccan journalist was jailed for four years Wednesday, May 21, for insulting King Mohammed VI and undermining the country's national integrity, sparking protests that the sentence was too harsh and politically biased.

But journalist Ali Lamrabet, editor-in-chief of the satirical magazines Demain and Doumane, said he was not surprised by his weighty sentence as police prepared to escort him from the court in Rabat to prison in the nearby town of Sale, agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

The convictions drew condemnation from rights watchdogs Amnesty International and Reporters sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Frontiers RSF). An Amnesty spokeswoman said it "regarded Ali Lamrabet as a prisoner of conscience, condemned the verdict and called for his immediate and unconditional release."

She said Amnesty was worried about the physical condition of Lamrabet who has been on hunger strike since May 6.

"This verdict doesn't surprise me," said Lamrabet, who was also fined 20,000 dirhams (1,900 euros/2,100 dollars) and saw his two magazines banned.

"The interior ministry and the DST (Moroccan intelligence) focused on my caricatures and drawings instead of looking after the security of the country," said Lamrabet, alluding to the series of blasts that rocked the Moroccan city of Casablanca on Friday, May 16, claiming 41 lives.

Lamrabet's controversial sentence came as Morocco tries to position itself as a burgeoning democracy, where freedom of expression is encouraged. The attacks in Casablanca last week have sparked fears that democratic rights and freedoms will from now on be limited in Morocco.

Charges were brought against Lamrabet after his magazines published articles on topics including a parliamentary vote on the king's civil list, the budget of the royal palace, and a cartoon on the history of slavery in Morocco. Another article quoted a Moroccan republican activist.

"Prison doesn't scare me," Lamrabet said, clutching a small bag containing some personal effects which he had brought to court, convinced he would be jailed.

The prosecution last week recommended Lamrabet be given the maximum sentence for defaming the king, or five years in prison.

A section of Morocco's penal code allows immediate imprisonment on conviction by a court.

"I knew from the start of the trial that they wanted to jail me and that the sentence would be heavy," he told dozens of reporters and lawyers at the court, all angered by the severity of the sentence.

Unfair, Scandalous

Lamrabet's lawyers said they would appeal the sentence, which they called "a serious regression for freedom of the press in Morocco."

They said it was the first time since 1971 that a journalist had been jailed on similar charges in the North African kingdom.

Ahmed Benjelloun, one of Lamrabet's lawyers, called the trial "unfair, scandalous" and "a parody of justice."

"We will appeal, but we have no illusions, the judiciary in our country being what it is," he said.

"With this sentence, the margins of freedom of the press have been pulled back further," he lamented.

Robert Menard, secretary general of media rights watchdog RSF -- which Lamrabet represents in Morocco -- said in a statement he was "appalled and horrified by this verdict."

"The trial we just witnessed was no more or less than a political trial," Menard said.

"Is Ali Lamrabet a criminal that one throws immediately into prison?" Menard asked, calling on the king, often hailed as a modernizer, to prove "with strong gestures his belief in true freedom of the press, without taboos or forbidden territory."

The Moroccan parliament in May last year approved a new press code, which reduced the maximum prison term for defaming the royal family from 20 years to five.

But the code, which replaced existing regulations governing the media, did not do away with prison terms for defamation as demanded by the National Union of the Moroccan Press (SNPM).

"The worst thing is that they have jailed Ali Lamrabet instead of waiting for him to lodge an appeal. This sentence smacks of vengeance," Younes Moujahid, Secretary-General of the SNPM told AFP Wednesday.

Lamrabet said he intended to continue a hunger strike he began two weeks ago "to denounce this unfair trial and obtain permission to publish the two weeklies."

Communication Minister Nabil Benabdallah refused to comment on the sentence, saying it was a judicial decision, and doing so would undermine the sovereignty of the judiciary.

A difference had to be drawn, said Benabdallah, between a decision taken by the courts and repressive measures taken by the authorities.

Article From: Islam Online

[mybags]

More links:

Mohammed VI: http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0...6,47765,00.html

Muhammad 6: http://lexicorient.com/e.o/muhammed6.htm

Moroccan King: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2285161.stm

King Muhammad VI: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/internation...,587350,00.html

King Hassan II: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/402491.stm

Hassan II: http://www.library.cornell.edu/colld...east/hasn2.htm

[Bubbette]

Interesting article on how Mohummed is trying to modernize Morocco by introducing equality for women, for starters.

Morocco’s Feminism -- From Above
By Michael Radu
FrontPageMagazine.com | December 15, 2003


“I cannot authorize what God forbids and forbid what God has authorized.” So King Mohammed VI of Morocco recently stated when instructing his (elected) parliament to pass a new family and revolutionary family code (moudawanna), thus reforming the status of women. This demonstrates how progress in the Arab world could realistically be made - from above. This legislation has shown the way for a transformation of the Arab world and demonstrated that Islam and human rights are not necessarily on a collision course. It also provides a valuable lesson for Iraq, one that will hopefully be learned by all concerned.


http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadA...le.asp?ID=11300

[Blueice]

Thursday, 28 March, 2002, 18:25 GMT

The King and the Sheikh's daughter

The young King of Morocco wants his country to embrace progress, to become a fairer, more modern society. But his opponents are applying the brakes. When he tried to introduce new laws to improve the rights of women, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Moroccans took to the streets in protest. Surprisingly, many of them were women. Anita McNaught reports.

Moroccan royal wedding

On 21 March 2002, King Mohammed VI of Morocco married a 24-year old computer engineering graduate in a private ceremony. The public celebration follows on 12 April , with all the pomp and ceremony, the dignitaries and foreign guests, that the West has come to expect from royal weddings.
Except that, for Morocco, this is a highly unusual event - a complete break with tradition. Up till now, royal wives in this ancient Muslim kingdom have been hidden from view.
But this break with custom is very much in keeping with the 38-year-old King Moroccans call "Speedy Mohammed" - in part for his fabled love of jet-skiing, and in part for his enthusiasm for moving Morocco into a new era.
When he succeeded his father King Hassan II in 1999, the young King promised his people badly needed reforms and a liberal agenda. He wanted to modernise the Moroccan economy, and foster closer ties with Europe. He promised tolerance, and respect for human rights. Political prisoners were released, dissidents returned from exile.

Sheikh Yassine

He even freed one of the royal household's fiercest critics, Sheikh Abdesalam Yassine. Sheikh Yassine is leader of an Islamic group called Al Adl Wal Ihsan - "Justice and Charity". He had written an open letter to King Mohammed on his coronation, challenging him to hand his royal fortune back to Morocco's people.
Sheikh Yassine had a hard time of it under King Mohammed's father. Some twenty years previously, he had written the old King, Hassan II, another open letter accusing him of tolerating corruption and encouraging Western-style moral decay. King Hassan jailed him for his efforts.
In that time, the Sheikh built up a sizeable following among ordinary Moroccans. His message of compassionate Islam, of social analysis and good works, found a receptive audience among people disillusioned by the country's grinding poverty and huge unemployment.

The Facts

Morocco's problems

Morocco has enormous problems, both social and economical. One third of the country's population of 30 million are extremely poor. Illiteracy rates are well over 50 per cent. Infant mortality and death in childbirth rates are also very high. Domestic violence is a big problem.
Agriculture has been plagued by a succession of droughts and floods, and the country's new industries have yet to pull the country's economy around.
The new King, who went to University in Europe, and whose PhD is on EU reforms and the Maghreb, came to the throne with a long list of measures and reforms to tackle the problems. High on his list was the situation of Morocco's women. The civil law or Personal Status Code, the Moudawana.

The Moudawana

The Moudawana is based on a mixture of custom and Islamic law. Among other functions, it governs the relationship between a husband and wife, even before a wedding takes place. Many Moroccans accept it hugely disadvantages women, denying them many rights and making them almost entirely subject to their husband's control.
The Moudawana is really, in fact, about being your husband's slave.

Damia Benkhouya

While to Western eyes, many Moroccan women appear to move more freely than their sisters in other Arab Muslim countries, their situation under Moroccan law is not helpful.
Damia Benkhouya, a leading Moroccan women's rights campaigner, says: "The Moudawana is really a type of violence, judicial violence against Moroccan women. It entirely goes against the reality of Moroccan women by not including them as part of society, by not allowing them to participate in development in all areas - political, economic, social and cultural. When you look at the Moudawana, women are always inferior... The Moudawana is really, in fact, about being your husband's slave."

Opposition to change

But radical change in any country is not easy, as the new King was to discover. When he announced the changes to the Moudawana, the country took to the streets. In March 2000, tens of thousands of supporters of the reforms marched in the capital Rabat while opponents mustered a demonstration ten times the size in Casablanca.
What had gone wrong? Conservatives in Moroccan society had linked up with the many men who had begun to have misgivings about any relinquishing of their personal power, and the Islamists had also mobilised on the same ticket, saying the proposed reforms were against the Koran. At the head of the Islamists marching in Casablanca that day, Nadia Yassine, Sheikh Yassine's daughter.

Nadia Yassine

Nadia Yassine is one of the Sheikh's big assets. She is university-educated, highly articulate and married with four children. Over the years that her father was in jail, she had become a prominent member of his organisation. Speaking perfect French, she is well-equipped to explain her father's message to a wider world.
Yes, she said, the law did need reforms. But not Western-inspired ones which would impose a foreign agenda on the Moroccan people. Nadia Yassine maintains the Prophet Mohammed was himself effectively a feminist, and that any changes to the social law should be made within a Muslim context.

Campaigning

The campaign against the reforms has, in the short term at least, succeeded in delaying the implementation of new law. King Mohammed was obliged to set up a commission to re-evaluate the proposals. It is supposed to be coming back with a new schema in September.
In the interim, the Islamists, emboldened by their burgeoning influence on government, have made increasingly vocal bids for more political and civil freedoms. On World Human Rights Day, 10 December 2000, they protested in eight cities simultaneously. The government cracked down, hard. Which has in turn made many Moroccans question how deep their supposed new freedoms really go. King Hassan II was notoriously repressive. Was his son going down the same road?
Yet the lessons of Morocco's troubled neighbour Algeria are never far from Moroccan minds. There, Islamic fundamentalism has turned into terrorism, and the government crackdown has tipped the country into a form of civil war. No-one in Morocco, either on the Muslim or government side, wants to make the same mistakes.

The future

The young King undoubtedly has some difficult judgement calls to make. And in this, he may be aided by the fact that his country is also 'young' - two thirds of the population is under the age of 25.
For many of them, Europe, and the culture of the West, remains very important.
Islamists may argue that Morocco is in danger of losing its cultural identity and sovereignty under a flood of Western influences, but the King knows that if the country is to raise its living standards and educate its people, its future relationship with a continent which lies barely nine miles away across the Straits of Gibralatar is the key.

The King and the Sheikh's daughter: Sunday 31st March 2002 on BBC Two at 1915 GMT.

Reporter: Anita McNaught
Producer: Diane Milward
Deputy Editor: Farah Durrani
Editor: Fiona Murch

[rosa]

this is an interview who made a spanish journalist whith J.P TUQUOI,
J.P TUQUOI is jounalist in the french news paper "le monde" and Made a book about mohamed VI



What does the most deranged in your book?
What has the most annoyed to the maroc, these are all details that I give on the daily life in palace

What type of details?
The functionning of the harem of Hassan II, of their concubines, of their maids, of certain palace scandals...

Does Mohamed IV have harem ?
No, he doesn’t have. What I explain is the life in palace during their childhood, and I speak of their education, of their relationship with their father...

And with their mother?
she has had a minimum relationship. Since they were born, the children belonged to palace, not to the mother. They were given to caretakers, governors, professors. To her it has not been he possible to be as mother.

Who is she?
Latefa is called. It was the elected concubine for Hassan II to be mother of the princes (two boys: Mohamed and Mulay Rachid, and three girls: Lalla Meriem, Lalla Asma and Lalla Hasna).

How many women did they compose the harem of Hassan II?
Hassan II lived permanently surrounded by some 60 women: some 20 they were concubines and the other ones 40, maids. But the frontier was diffuse: if you a seductive maid, concubine became.

And what did he/she suppose to be concubine?
To cut all communication with family and acquaintance of outside of palace and to pass to live in a next room to that of the king, in competition with the other concubines to get a place only in those the sovereign's favors.

What has it belonged to those women after the death of Hassan II?
Mohamed VI opened the doors so that they left, in 1999. And they left, but they have finished returning, little by little. Think that all arrived with 11 or 12 years to palace that they have always lived there and some are sexagenarian. Others are 30 years old, but without any linking already with the exterior. Palace people maintains them with their donations.

How did Hassan II treat them?
As their master and lord: the concubines were objects of their property. Hassan II were entitled about the life and the death of each one of them. Sometimes he covered them of expensive gifts bought in Europe, and other them ago to whip -until bleeding - for a slave of the fire.

Slave of the fire?
Yes, it is a long stock of black servants that they work for generations in the king's of Morocco court. And one of their made was to whip the concubines.
With whips wet in water and salt. But he sometimes punished them the own one king. Certain day, the king reproached to one of the concubines that she didn’t make up herself . Soon after, she was presented make up exaggeratedly and she spit the king: " Do you like this , ' sidi'"? Hassan II crawled her of the hair, he put him the head in a spring and then he sent it during several months to rot to the prison of Fez. And some became crazy after the king's humiliations.

How was the current king educated?
Once, Hassan II declared: "Until the 10 or 12 years I received blow with a cane. I have given samples of the same severity with my own ones children". After a beating, one of his daughters was about to send to International amnesty a picture of their body marked by the blows of cane. At the end she didn't make it.

How are you able to know these things?
My sources are people that lived in palace. People that today is already outside of Morocco. They ask me him not to publish their names to avoid possible problems to their relatives in Morocco.

Let us return to the education of Mohamed VI
Inside palace he had everything: school, games, cinema, hospital... Of boy was educated there, in a classroom next to other children given by families of the court or the king's friends.

what kind of student was he?
Normal, he was very good in drawing. he had a good art professor that told me years after Mohamed VI had talent and sensibility and that, of not to be a king, he could have been a remarkable plastic artist. To the 15 years he drew beautiful birds whose plumages painted of many mainly colors.

what relations did he have with his father?
Hassan II were the authority. Mohamed had the obligation of going to greet him every noon. And Hassan II were only interested in their notes and for their studies, but not for the son.

Is there bitterness in him?
Who have treated him during these two years have seen him very happy for not to already feel squashed by their father. And he doesn't like he at all that what they speak to him

[rosa]

what does one know of his tastes?
When he was 20 years old, Mohamed liked quick cars and the speed. With a friend he had a serious accident: he was about to be killed. When Hassan II saw him, he was furious he tells him you have been about to annihilate 20 years of investment in you". Hassan II he spoke to him as boss of State, not like a father who has failed to lose a son

Did many confrontation father and son have?
Hassan II seemed him that Mohamed was too effeminate and that him it angered. And Hassan II also rebuked Mohamed when seeing that not he interested too much to read the foreign press and that he was not interested for the international politics. It is that Mohamed preferred to read the magazines of the Spanish heart, the Hello! and also " Interview ".

Seriously?
Yes! Mohamed also liked a lot the " night-clubs ", when he was younger, and today he likes the horses, to swim and the jet sky."

And the girls?
Ah, no: the women are not in fact it that more it interests Mohamed
This is something who is known and commented by the bourgeoisie and the intellectuality of Rabat.

But he has just announced their wedding with Salma Benani, a Moroccan girl of 24 years.
It is a wedding of State, to silence rumors. Of the girl we know that it is learned, modern, and I assure him that their election will have been carefully studied.

It is not a wedding for love ?
It is political. Mohamed will orchestrate an immense party: he will present his to the Moroccan town to send to the world the message that he is a modern king, his father always let latefa in the silence of the harem

Does mohamed has good relations with prince felipe ?
No. The king Juan Carlos yes, had good relationship with Hassan II for question generation, but it is not already the same thing with Mohamed VI.

What should this king make?
To take advantage of the great popularity that he still enjoys among the population for to attack necessary changes.

What changes?
There is one indispensable: to dismantle the Makzen.

What is the Makzen?
The parallel State that it controls until the last corner of Morocco, with head in the real palace. It is a feudal system of alliances with the king. If you are in that system, you have total impunity: to jump you laws, to steal, to charge commissions...

And Mohamed VI will it be able to finish with all that?
It is very difficult to make it, and for that reason he should take advantage of their current popularity: now still it is under conditions of being able to make it!

And what will it happen if anything doesn't make?
If he doesn't put an end to that feudal system and democratizes it, he could be the one last king of Morocco. It is something that one already whispers in the streets of Rabat.

Why?
Because one of each two Moroccans lives in state of poverty, according to those parameters of the Unesco. And the Islamism, little by little, goes growing.

Does it predict a social explosion?
If Mohamed continues reigning as its father and, for how long will he maintain his popularity? Let us don't lose of view the Iran of the fall of shah or the civil war in Algeria.

And what can he be made so that he goes up the level of Moroccan life?
To settle down in a transparent way the rules of the game. That would give security and tranquility to foreign investors, to managers. In theory, there is market economy, but in the practice it is a plot of favors!

But, is Morocco a democracy, or not?
Montesquieu still has to arrive at Morocco, because now the king names directly the government's four minister: Justice, Interior, External matters and Religious Matters...

But Mohamed made some change yes or no?
Yes, he has tossed to their father's faithful servants, as Driss Basri, the almighty boss of the police and minister of the Interior. But he expelled him by personal questions: it seems that Driss Basri was not kind with Mohamed when he was young boy... and Mohamed has retaliated.

[rosa]

one could wonder why “Paris Match” is as conciliatory with Mohamed VI, the reason in is all simple “Paris Match” is edited by the groups Hachette and Hachette possess big interest in morocco of which notably the school book edition, then to thank his majesty for the contrat that he gives it, one finalizes to the point an interview, or no unpleasant topic for the king is debated, one takes pretty photos of his family and one tried to make the reader swallow the history of a honest king that thinks and lives only for his people and his small family
All is made to move the reader, the photos of the kind family, the questions chosen with big care, those that don't know the interest of Paris Match could be duper, when to me I am especially disgusted

[abir]

http://www.telquel-online.com/138/sujet1.shtml

I copy this part from the above article (published July/August 2004):

La dynastie alaouite respire. En la personne du jeune Moulay El Hassan (1 an), elle a assuré sa continuité. Et en la personne de Lalla Salma, anciennement simple Salma Bennani, elle a assuré sa modernité. Un grand pas est franchi depuis Hassan II, on sait, désormais, à quoi ressemble la femme du roi. Mais on n'en sait pas beaucoup plus. Ceux qui fantasmaient sur une first lady à l'américaine en ont été pour leurs frais. Le sérail ne baisse pas les armes si facilement. Au grand regret des Marocains, qui éprouvent une sincère affection envers la jeune princesse de 26 ans, Lalla Salma n'apparaît que très rarement, et pour inaugurer des évènements que pourraient inaugurer les ministres concernés. Pourtant, on parlait de sa fibre sociale… Dommage qu'elle n'ait pas été mise à profit. Aujourd'hui, on ne parle plus que des rumeurs sur la vie de Cour, notamment celle selon laquelle elle attendrait un second enfant.

translation to english

Dynasty alaouite breathes. In the person of the young Moulay El Hassan (1 year), she assured his continuity. And in the person of Lalla Salma, formerly simple Salma Bennani, she assured his modernity. A big is step crossed since Hassan II, one knows, henceforth, to what resembles the woman of the king. But one not in knows a lot more. Those that fantasized on a first lady to the American one some were for their expenses. The sérail does not lower the weapons so easily. To the big regret of the Moroccans, that test a sincere affection towards the young princess of 26 years, Lalla Salma appears only very rarely, and to inaugurate events that could inaugurate the concerned ministers. Nevertheless, one talked about his social fiber… Damage that she was not put to profit. Today, one does not speak anymore than rumors on Course life, notably the one according to which she would await a second child.

[abir]

The king salary will be published at Telquel, Moroccan Magazine, 7th January 2005. http://www.telquel-online.com/156/co...re_156_1.shtml

Enquête. Le salaire du roi
(AFP)

Les chiffres ne sont pas sacrés

"Waaw !", "Eh ben !", "Nooon, c’est pas vrai ?!?"… Voilà un petit échantillon des réactions enregistrées à chaque fois que nous annoncions à quelqu’un que nous préparions un dossier sur le salaire du roi et les finances du Palais royal. Comme si nous nous préparions à révéler un secret d’état ou à commettre un crime de lèse-majesté.
Rien n’est plus faux. Tous les chiffres présentés dans ce dossier sont tirés de documents aussi banals que le bulletin officiel ou ...

Translated:

Investigate. The salary of the king
(AFP) The amount are not sacred
"Waaw!", "Eh ben!", "Nooon, it's not true ?!?"… Here a small sample of the recorded reactions to whenever we announced to someone that we prepared a file on the salary of the king and the finances of the royal Palace. As if we got ready to reveal a state secret or to commit a crime of majesties. Nothing MORE FALSE. All the amount presented in this file are pulled documents as banal as the official bulletin or ...

[abir]

Originally Posted by abir

The king salary will be published at Telquel, Moroccan Magazine, 7th January 2005. http://www.telquel-online.com/156/co...re_156_1.shtml

Le Monde speaks about the article.

Un hebdomadaire marocain enfreint un tabou en évaluant le coût de la monarchie chérifienne

LE MONDE | 27.12.04 | 14h03
Selon "Tel Quel", le fonctionnement de la cour représente un budget annuel de 210 millions d'euros.
Pour la première fois au royaume chérifien, où le Parlement vote le budget de la cour "par consentement tacite", un journal a publié "Le salaire du roi". C'est sous ce titre que l'hebdomadaire Tel Quel évalue, dimanche 26 décembre, à 36 000 euros les émoluments du souverain en tant que chef de l'Etat. Ce "salaire" ne constitue qu'une faible part de la "liste civile" de la cour royale, que le journal chiffre, sur la base des comptes du palais extraits de divers documents officiels, à l'équivalent de 210 millions d'euros par an.

L'hebdomadaire, qui affirme que "ni les médias, ni les députés n'osent encore s'intéresser de trop près"au coût courant de la monarchie, celui-ci étant couvert "depuis l'indépendance par un tabou soigneusement cultivé", estime à 2,4 millions d'euros la masse salariale des princes et princesses de la famille royale. A cette somme s'ajoutent les "dotations de souveraineté", pour un montant annuel de 39 millions d'euros, dont un tiers est alloué à diverses fondations et le reste couvre des "dépenses non ventilées", soit, selon Tel Quel, une sorte de "caisse noire officielle" à usage discrétionnaire.

1 100 PERSONNES EMPLOYÉES

Le fonctionnement de la cour, avec les salaires de plus de 1 100 personnes qui lui sont attachées, l'entretien des palais, les voyages et les cérémonies, représenterait un budget annuel de 163 millions d'euros. Tel Quel indique que le cabinet royal emploie a lui seul quelque 300 permanents, au premier rang desquels les "conseillers du roi", dont les salaires sont "alignés sur ceux des membres du gouvernement". Au titre du budget annuel des "consommations" des palais royaux, l'hebdomadaire relève 6 millions d'euros de carburant, un peu moins en électricité, 4 millions d'euros de factures d'eau, et 2 millions en dépenses vestimentaires. Le journal observe malicieusement qu'avec 315 000 euros de budget "abonnements et documentation" la maison royale n'a pas encore souscrit d'abonnement à... Tel Quel.

L'hebdomadaire publie par ailleurs une interview avec le cousin germain du roi Mohammed VI, le "prince rouge" Moulay Hicham, avocat d'une "refondation démocratique" de la monarchie chérifienne. Celui-ci, en disgrâce à la cour, estime que "la démocratie et la sacralité ne sont pas conciliables", concluant : "Voilà toute la problématique du système politique marocain."

Evoquant les récentes auditions publiques de victimes des "années de plomb" au Maroc, organisées par l'Instance équité et réconciliation mise en place par le roi Mohammed VI, Moulay Hicham se demande "comment on peut parler de tout cela alors qu'Amnesty -International- et Human Rights Watch viennent de relever des atteintes sérieuses aux droits humains et que des livres sont encore interdits au Maroc".

Selon le cousin du roi, qui se déclare "dissident" à son corps défendant, il existerait aujourd'hui au Maroc "une envie de scinder Hassan II -le père et prédécesseur au pouvoir de l'actuel souverain- en "bon" et "mauvais". Alors que le "bon" sert de socle confortable et imperturbable sur lequel repose la monarchie, le "mauvais" est celui qu'on attaque, sans jamais le nommer, pour construire la légitimité du nouveau règne". - (AFP.)


Translated:


A weekly Moroccan infringes a taboo while evaluating the cost of the monarchy chérifienne

According to "Such Which", the functioning of the course represents an annual budget of 210 million Euros. For the first time to the kingdom chérifien, where the Parliament votes the budget of the course "by consent tacite", a newspaper published "The salary of the king". This is under this title that the weekly one Such Which evaluates, Sunday December 26, to 36 000 Euros the émoluments of the sovereign one as a boss state. This "salary" constitutes only a weak one leaves the "civil list" royal course, that the newspaper amounts, on the basis of the accounts of the palace extracts of various official documents, to the are equivalent of 210 million Euros per year.

The weekly one, that asserts that "or the media, or the representatives dare again to be interested too près"au cost running monarchy, this one being covered "since the independence by a carefully cultivated taboo", estimates to 2,4 million Euros the wage mass of the princes and princesses of the royal family. To this sum add the "sovereignty allocations", for an annual amount of 39 million Euros, of which a third is allocated to various foundations and the remainder covers with the "non ventilated expenditures", be, according to Such Which, a sort of "black official cash register" to discretionary usage.

1 100 EMPLOYED PERSONS

The functioning of the course, with the salaries of more one than 1 100 persons that are attached for him, the discussion of the palaces, the trips and the ceremonies, would represent an annual budget of 163 million Euros. Such Which indicates that the royal office emploies has him alone some 300 permanent ones, to the first row of which ones them "counsel king", of which the salaries are "aligned on those of the members of the government". To the title of the annual budget of the "consumptions" royal palaces, the weekly relief 6 fuel million Euros, a little less in electricity, 4 million Euros of water bills, and 2 million some spend vestimentaires. The newspaper observes mischievous that with 315 000 budget Euros "subscriptions and documentation" the royal house did not again subscribe subscription to... Such Which.

The weekly one publishes besides an interview with the first cousin of the king Mohammed VI, the "red prince" Moulay Hicham, lawyer of a "democratic refondation" monarchy chérifienne. This one, in disgrace to the course, considers that "the democracy and the sacralité are not reconcilable", conclusive: "Here all the problematic one of the political system Moroccan."

Evoking the recent public hearing of victims of the "lead years" to Morocco, organized by the instance équité and put reconciliation some places by the king Mohammed VI, Moulay Hicham wonders "how one can talk about all that while amnesty -International- and Human Rights Watch have just raised of the attained serious to the human rights and that of the books again are forbidden to Morocco".

According to the cousin of the king, that declares itself "dissident" to his body defending, it would exist today to Morocco "a craving to split up Hassan II -the father and in power predecessor of the current sovereign one- in "good" and "bad". While the "good" uses comfortable and imperturbable base on which rests the monarchy, the "bad" the one that one attacks, without never to name it, to construct the legitimacy of the new reign". - (AFP.)

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,...-392135,0.html

[abir]

34000 euro a monthly salary for each prince/princess plus their heritage and "sovereignty allocations". Apart from the king who is working for Morocco, what the others are doing to get such huge salary?

[rosa]

Originally Posted by abir

34000 euro a monthly salary for each prince/princess plus their heritage and "sovereignty allocations". Apart from the king who is working for Morocco, what the others are doing to get such huge salary?

Me, what inconveniences me more that all, is the existence of this black case, because that means that what is allocated to the MRF doesn’t actually have a limit, it is very serious because they can draw as much they want, no one can ask them accounts
In democracy the existence of a black case would provoke a scandal; I doubt that in Morocco, the justice which is to the orders of the palace makes anything to clear this affair

[abir]

Originally Posted by rosa

Me, what inconveniences me more that all, is the existence of this black case, because that means that what is allocated to the MRF doesn’t actually have a limit, it is very serious because they can draw as much they want, no one can ask them accounts

If they do so, this means that they consider Morocco -the land and all treasures- are only for them, and not to be shared equaly and by merit between all the moroccans.

[rosa]

Originally Posted by abir

If they do so, this means that they consider Morocco -the land and all treasures- are only for them, and not to be shared equaly and by merit between all the moroccans.

I hope this is not the case

[abir]

Originally Posted by abir

The king salary will be published at Telquel, Moroccan Magazine, 7th January 2005. http://www.telquel-online.com/156/co...re_156_1.shtml

The british media speaks also about ... The BBC says such publication is unique in arab region.


BBC News, 29 December, 2004

Morocco publishes king's salary
A Moroccan magazine has taken the unprecedented step of publishing details of King Mohammed VI's salary.

The French-language magazine Tel Quel says the monarch earns less than a typical company director in the developed world, under $45,000 a month. The annual expenses of the royal court are said to be around $250m.

Correspondents say the publication of such figures is a unique event in the Arab region, whose unelected leaders are some of the richest in the world.

King Mohammed has been spearheading a drive to modernise his society and introduce a culture of accountability, correspondents say.

He has made the fight against poverty in Morocco one of his priorities, earning him the name "guardian of the poor". Since coming to power in 1999, he has embarked on a series of political and economic changes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4132315.stm

[abir]

About salma, down is web-translation of a spanish article, dated beginning 2004.

Since itself announcement its commitment, its image goes back several decades. Nevertheless, the woman of the king of Morocco continues her unstoppable process of aggiornamiento. According to Week, the one that Lalla Salma is learning to ski in the select and very expensive French station of Courchevel is “a sign of modernity”. I have for me that the modern thing would be that she helped that the women of their country no longer could ski, but to walk free along the street. Or that its husband, the king Hassan, instead of being hit the life father at the cost of the contrubuyente Moroccan, destined the money that is spent in these white holidays to improve the services socialkes of its country. Would be modern, at par that progressive.


http://www.divertinajes.com/criticas/040102.html

[Monalisa]

AGADIR- H.M. King Mohammed VI on January 29, 2003 announced a package of measures to reform justice meant to promote the economic development of Morocco, moralize public life, improve the material and professional situation of judges and justice staff and guarantee the dignity of prisoners.

The Sovereign announced the comprehensive reform plan in a speech opening the judiciary year.

Here follows the full text of the sovereign's speech:





"Praise be to God


Peace and Prayers be on the Prophet, his Kin and kith


Ladies and Gentlemen the magistrates,

It is a pleasure for Us to open the judiciary year and seize the opportunity to usher in new stages in the ongoing process to reform the judiciary system, convinced that an independent, honest and efficient justice comforts the supremacy of the law and guarantees the confidence and safety of persons and property. While it promotes development and encourages investment, it also brings a guarantee to the consolidation of stability and democracy that We put above all other considerations.

But have the efforts made in this context helped reach the objectives? The answer is definitely no. Indeed, while we praise the achievements fulfilled to date, we deem that the justice reforming endeavor is an ambitious, laborious and painstaking program. We are determined to speed up the pace of this program in order to ensure the modernization, moralization and improvement of the judiciary system. Today, we are taking concrete measures to enable justice bring its contribution to the ongoing collective efforts to build a Morocco of democracy and development.


Therefore, and in accordance with Our firm will to carry on endeavors to promote investments and carry out Our instructions outlined in the letter to Our Prime Minister, We invite Our government to carry on efforts geared towards justice modernization, by rationalizing its work, easing procedures and generalizing computerization. It is also equally necessary to diversify settlement procedures of eventual disputes between partners in economic transactions by crafting, in a diligent way, the national and international commercial arbitration law so that our judiciary system be able to cope with the challenges of globalization and of economic competition and contribute to attracting foreign investments.


Within the same modernist approach, We have instructed the Justice Minister to secure the opening of family-justice sections in the major tribunals and endeavor that such structures be, eventually, generalized to all the regions of the Kingdom and speed the training of specialized judges specialized in family cases.


Indeed, the existing jurisdictions that take care of personal statute cases are not qualified to ensure the enforcement of Family Code, a project We are very keen on, in order to consolidate family coherence in a spirit of balance and equity.


Therefore, instead of creating a family allowance fund that might be misunderstood as an encouragement to what is for God the most detestable legal acts, and to family separation, We give Our instructions to Our Government to carefully study the creation of a family solidarity fund that will be financed by returns of stamps, of a symbolic value, affixed on (administrative) documents related to the personal and family statute. The Fund's disbursements will be allocated according to rigorous criteria in order to guarantee the rights of poorest mothers and protect children who risk to be abandoned following the divorce of their parents.


Our objective is to create a specialized justice that, in addition to an efficient settlement of disputes, will guarantee the right to a fair trial and to citizens' equality before the law in all circumstances and in all cases. Therefore, We order Our government to study the situation of the Special Court of Justice and to submit to Us proposals and conclusions. In this endeavor, they should bear in mind the paramount necessity to set in place a jurisdiction specialized in financial offenses, in order to moralize public life, protect public finances against all kinds of corrupt practices and engrain in the minds the culture and ethics of accountability.


Given that the improvement of justice performance depends on the training of magistrates and the improvement of the material situation of new judges and justice aides, We invite Our government to probe means to revise their material conditions and draft, for justice clerks, a motivating statute that is able to protect them against temptations and deviations that harm the honor of justice and the integrity of its mission.


We also call for the creation of an association of the Justice ministry staff that will see to the promotion of their social and professional situation, as part of an associative action, adapted to the specificity of justice. This association will not be designed as an administrative department but as a constitutional institution that should remain shielded against any influence or pressure of whatever form or origin.


In this context, and confirming the particular and constant interest that We grant to the situation of the justice family, We have decided to create a Mohammedian Foundation of Social welfare of magistrates and justice staff.


Meanwhile, We expect the Government of Our Majesty to seize the openness and partnership possibilities offered by the reform of the education and university and judiciary training systems to secure a modern and sound training to our magistrates and to all those who have justice-associated jobs.


However, the particular care that We extend to the social dimension, in the justice field, will not be complete without securing to imprisoned citizens their human dignity that is not, however, denied by a custodial sentence.


We have been deeply affected by the painful events that occurred in some prisons. Consequently and in parallel to the reform that encompasses penitentiary legislation and the ambitious action program for the re-integration of inmates, We have instructed to the Government of Our Majesty to build rapidly modern, civil and rural prison compounds and to see to the improvement of prisoners' material and moral conditions.


In a bid to alleviate the sufferings of some categories of prisoners who enjoy Our sympathy for humanitarian reasons, We have given Our High Directives to Our Minister of Justice to submit to Our High appreciation proposals to extend the Royal pardon to prisoners affected by incurable diseases, invalid or handicapped prisoners, pregnant or breast-feeding prisoners, or children who have particular education or artistic abilities. These proposals should be made respecting rigorous criteria and on the basis of precise list of names. We will announce at the appropriate time the decision that We have made.


We urge the government to seize the opportunity of the deadlines set before the entry into force of the new code of penal procedure to ensure the training of sentence enforcement judges, in such a way that would enable them monitor the behavior of repented prisoners and contribute to increasing release chances.

[Monalisa]

We implore God, The Almighty, to assist you, honorable magistrates, so that you do justice in total independence and righteousness, armed with the competency necessary and the Ijtihad required, to protect the security of citizens, and the inviolability of the nation and the State against any criminal or terrorist act. Such is the path that you have to follow to be worthy of the honor vested on you to render justice in the name of Our Majesty. It is a burdensome responsibility which we commit you to shoulder before God.


It is at this price that you will succeed in consolidating the trust of citizens and re-conciliate them with Justice. Therefore, you will make Justice prevail. This very justice that we have made the foundation and finality of Our doctrine of power. It is actually upon Justice that we pin the ambition to secure to Our free and proud people the cherished democratic progress, the social cohesion and the economic expansion.


Wassalamou Alaikum Wa Rahmatu Allah Wa Barakatouh."

[Monalisa]

Message of HM King Mohammed VI to the first World Congress of Imams-Rabbis in Brussels

Brussels, Jan. 4 - Full text of the royal message to the first World Congress of Imams and Rabbis in Brussels.


“In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon our lord, the Messenger of Allah, upon his Family, his companions, and upon all Prophets and Messengers.



Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I take great pleasure in extending ample and sincere thanks to my great friend, His Majesty, Albert II, King of Belgium, for graciously hosting such an exceptional event. All the more so that it is taking place within a historical context which gives one the impression that the voices -which call for the enhancement of sedateness, wisdom, and firmness in the relations that bind the members of a seemingly unique, yet forlorn humankind on a small planet in such a vast universe-are being muted.

Your Conference is being held at a time when mankind is confronted with one of the most deadly natural disasters ours planet has ever witnessed. I pray that the Almighty bless the souls of the men, women and children who have lost their lives. My heart also goes out to those who have lost loved ones and property, and who need our help and active support.

This disaster shows how fragile we are. It should induce us to show greater humanity, wisdom and clear-mindedness so that we may realize at last, that our short existence on earth must be used to foster brotherhood and resist any inclination towards discord and division.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we are gathered here, we are filled with hope that our meeting will curb intolerance and exclusion that have come to be the main features marking our world. Given that humanity possesses all the necessary knowledge and science that allow it to look out into the future with foresight and deliberation, humanity in the Twenty-first century has actually transcended the era of introversion, aggrandized self-righteousness, and the illusion of holding absolute truth. Moreover, humanity has now developed such methodological and cognitive systems as would allow it to stand high above any demagogic and ideological stereotypes, which are premised on evidence that is valid neither in terms of authentic handed-down tradition, nor in terms of rational consideration.

I should not omit here to thank the officials in charge of the Institution, "Men of Word", for this responsible and courageous initiative which resides in organizing such a qualitative meeting which inaugurates a new course marked by the beginning of a serious and constructive dialogue between Islam and Judaism, for the sake of the advancement of humanity.

The Divine Message to humanity throughout the centuries, in general, and during the Abraham era, in particular, has been one of mercy, tolerance, and fraternity -a message aimed at developing the perception of human beings and at sharpening their capabilities in order to qualify them to grasp the overall cosmic process wherein they are and to draw their attention to the high standing of humankind and the enormous opportunities that are available to them in order to help them attain felicity both in this world and in the hereafter.

Indeed, in their religious lives human beings have been faced with situations that have threatened to upset this religious life, at times, and have served to strengthen it, at other times. Among the disturbances that have been detected throughout the history of humanity stand out the tendency of some to assume leadership and prominence -though they are utterly unqualified for such roles-and to falsely and spuriously hold in pledge the Name of Allah and the Words of Allah. In this, such pretentious people often exploit the religious feelings of peoples, leading them headlong towards perdition. Well-guided people, on the other hand, have ever striven to recover the Name of Allah and the Words of Allah in order to restore straightness to this pivotal and sensitive issue. Such strivings have constituted some of the major challenges confronted by humanity. The success of these well-guided people and the upholding of the voice of wisdom and perspicacity has also been the success of humanity, at large.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

One of the most important obligations devolving to us is to seriously and diligently seek to remove the Name of Allah and the Words of Allah from the clutches of those who "gave the grace of Allah in exchange for thanklessness and led their people down to the Abode of Loss." (Surat Abraham, 14:28) -those who have self-appointed themselves as the defenders of intolerance and violence, and oftentimes, as the servants of death and extermination -through their uni-dimensional, whimsical, and fallacious use of religion. It behoves to us then to recover the Name of Allah and the Words of Allah and to re-analyze their authentic and original weighty meanings, which include such lofty values as mutual dialogue, the importance of listening to each other, mutual commendation, and growth -values which have not only led humanity towards enlightenment in its brightest historical eras but have also preserved its collective consciousness. Such recovery is undoubtedly based on a premise which cannot be overlooked or dispensed with, and that is the protection of the Major Issues and Questions which concern us all and require us to commit to them. The right of peoples and nations to freedom and dignity should not be a matter of negotiation, nor there a multiplicity of criteria for the protection of such rights, according to such considerations as creed or ethnicity. These rights are the same for each and all, and the militancy of those deprived from them is legitimate. Furthermore, our solidarity and support for them ought to be in the likeness of tight ranks which do not suffer from any rifts.

[Monalisa]

The act of firmly establishing our spiritual and religious lives on mutual dialogue, exchange, and encounters should not be at odds with the said solidarity and commitment. In fact, the opposite is true: the Words of Allah, when their use has been rehabilitated, should exhort us to serve the aforementioned issues and questions. Incidentally, unbelief both in Judaism and in Islam is tantamount to repelling the needy, refraining from exhorting the feeding of the indigent, and refusing to help the impoverished: "Hast thou observed him who belieth religion? That is he who repel the orphan, and urged not the feeding of the needy. Ah, woe unto worshippers who are heedless of their prayer; who would be seen (at worship) yet refuse small kindness!" (Surat Al-Mâ`ûn, or Small Kindness)

It follows then, that all of us should, with your leadership, O revered Imams and Rabbis, provide the model to emulate. We should act as the champions of the right of the Palestinians to live in peace, dignity, and justice side by side with the Israelis, who are reconciled with their Judaic values and the bases of our common creed. We should also collectively break the reflexive mirror which, for an unduly long time, given our peoples and nations an utterly distorted image of the concept of the holy war -an image which has, alas, been given wide currency by troublesome and seditious wrongdoers. However, the concept of holy war, in its ultimate meaning, is but the striving of the soul against evil temptations, be they manifest or hidden.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Morocco, your home or your second country, has defined, shaped, and develop its selfhood on the basis of this vision which has inspired the predominant spiritual experience in Morocco. Such an experience, moreover, has spread from it to reach all the other parts of the world, throughout history. Within the framework of this vision resides a pedagogy which aspires to become systematic and structural, and not merely occasional, --a civilized pedagogy which is characterized by sufficient depth and deliberate consideration, as well as by the requisite effectiveness. And the honor of inaugurating and steering such an initiative shall all be yours, O honorable people.

Morocco shall accompany you along the way, fully committed, involved, and active. It shall remain by your side, for you have chosen to liberate the effectiveness of the Words of Allah in order to serve justice, dignity, and peace. You have, likewise, refused to accept the fatalism of confrontation and to surrender to religious schisms, just as you have banished the logic of ethnic and religious exclusion. You have decided to make of your meeting the starting point of a long but systematic march towards the recovery of rightness, the re-building of hope, the resumption of the responsibility assumed by men and women of faith and religion in the character building and the guiding of humankind towards bliss in this world and in the hereafter.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

You are called upon today to meet a double challenge: on the one hand, this entails releasing the Words of Allah, liberating their constructive effectiveness, and breaking the ice that has accumulated over the ages between all the believers in these words. In this connection, we ought to avail ourselves of the considerable cognitive achievements of humanity today. On the other hand, the other aspect of the challenge concerns the shoring up of the recovered ethical and value system.

The Royal Patronage of the present meeting, along with the important delegation which is attending it, serve to re-iterate Morocco's adherence to the practical semiotic signification spelled out by the present address and to express its support of this blessed function. Morocco also hopes that this gathering will be a constructive and pioneering space conducive to the attainment of the aims devolving to it.

I wish your courageous and responsible initiative ample success. And thank you for your kind attention.

Wassalamou alaikoum warahmatouallah wabarakatouh.