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* “It is clear Morocco is playing an extremely crucial role in both Africa & the Arab world.”*

Rudroneel Ghosh, The Times of India

MOTM — In a recent column, “India must note Morocco’s important role in Africa and Middle East” (Feb.27, 2014), Times of India editorial columnist Rudroneel Ghosh writes about the “increasingly pivotal role” Morocco is playing in “promoting socio-economic stability in the Sahara and Sahel” and helping to “broker peace in the Middle East.” Ghosh reports that:

Morocco’s unique position is underpinned by the fact that it is at the forefront of tackling three critical issues spanning Africa and the Arab world. First, there is clear evidence to suggest that several nations in the Maghreb and Sahel face serious threats from radical Islamist militancy. The US-led military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last decade forced Islamist militants to take shelter in North Africa and its surrounding regions.

Ghosh notes how a “deadly cocktail of arms and militants” brought crisis to northern Mali.  He says that while an “international military coalition” eventually pushed out radical Islamists, at the same time “stakeholders in Africa also recognized that fighting jihadi terror” will require longer-term measures.

This is where Morocco comes in. Inspired and led by King Mohammed VI, Morocco has taken it upon itself to stabilize the situation in Mali through a host of bilateral initiatives. This includes training the Malian army for counter-terrorism/counter-insurgency operations, mediating a political truce between Bamako and the rebel Tuaregs in Mali’s north and cooperating with the Malian government to develop diverse sectors such as trade, banking, health, education, etc. But most importantly,” Ghosh writes, “Morocco has agreed to train 500 Malian imams in its own brand of moderate Maliki Islam. This initiative, in particular, needs to be lauded and expanded in scope to fight the shadow of Islamic extremism that looms over Africa – something that was highlighted yet again with the recent Boko Haram attack on school students in Nigeria.

The second area where Morocco is making significant contributions is inter-African cooperation. As part of his latest four-nation African tour, in his recent speech at the Morocco- Côte d’Ivoire Economic Forum, King Mohammed VI emphasized on the need for greater South-South collaborations. Urging African leaders to take their destiny in their own hands, the King asserted that Africa did not need humanitarian aid as much as mutually profitable partnerships. Pitching for solidarity between African peoples and respect for states’ territorial sovereignty, the King outlined a new paradigm of African unity and development.

[Continue Reading at The Times of India…]

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