HM the King chairs in Casablanca ceremony to launch operation of medical care generalization

Casablanca  - HM King Mohammed VI chaired, on Tuesday at the Royal Palace in Casablanca, the ceremony to launch the operation of medical care system generalization (RAMED), which is expected to benefit 8.5 million underprivileged people.

- Around 8.5 million underprivileged people will benefit from this operation.

 - The medical care system give concrete substance to the provisions of the new constitution aimed at improving access to health care.

In the beginning of the ceremony, Health Minister El Hossein El Ouardi gave before the sovereign a presentation in which he underlined the importance of the new medical care system which mobilizes three billion dirhams for the year 2012.

One of the large-scale projects aimed at improving access to health care, in accordance with the provisions of the new constitution, the RAMED is based on the principles of social aid and nationwide solidarity for the benefit of disadvantaged people who are not eligible for mandatory health insurance, the minister said, noting that this public system enables the beneficiaries to have access to health care in public hospitals and state-owned health services institutions.

The medical care system, launched in November 2008 as part of an experiment in the Tadla-Azilal, will benefit 8.5 million underprivileged people (28% of the Moroccan population), including 4 million poor inhabitants and 4.5 vulnerable ones, in addition to 160,000 prisoners, homeless persons and orphans.

The minister pointed out that the beneficiaries will have at their disposal 2,581 institutions for basic health care, including 2,030 health centers, 111 provincial and prefectural hospitals, 12 regional hospitals and 19 university hospital centers, highlighting the reinforcement of the emergency health care system with the creation of 80 equipped medical units, the organization of specialized medical caravans and the setting up of a unit for weekly medical consultation for diabetes and high blood pressure patients, in addition to increasing the number of mobile medical units (602 medical care units and 19 dental care units).

Measures comprise also strengthening medical care units for pregnant women and newborns in the rural area and increasing the budget for purchasing drugs and medical material.

The RAMED's beneficiaries are covered with no discrimination on the basis of age, sex, pathological antecedents or zones of residence.

Poor people will have a free of charge medical care, while vulnerable members of society will have to pay 120 dirhams per person without exceeding 600 dirhams for every household.

The ceremony was attended by the head of government, the advisors of HM the King, members of the government and high-ranking personalities.

HM the King presided, later on, over a reception in honor of the guests

Source: @MAP, 13 March 2012

UN Western Sahara envoy to embark on regional visit in May

Christopher Ross, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara. Photo: UNMultimedia

The United Nations envoy for Western Sahara announced today following three days of informal talks with the parties that he will embark on a regional tour starting in mid-May, including an extensive visit to the disputed territory.

In addition, the next round of informal meetings will take place in Europe in June and in a place to be determined in July, according to a statement issued by Christopher Ross, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara.

The UN has been involved in efforts towards a settlement in Western Sahara since 1976, when fighting broke out between Morocco and the Frente Polisario after the Spanish colonial administration of the territory ended.

Morocco has presented a plan for autonomy while the position of the Frente Polisario is that the territory’s final status should be decided in a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option.

Discussions during the just-concluded talks, held outside New York City, took place in an atmosphere of “serious engagement, frankness and mutual respect,” said Mr. Ross.

The parties continued to deepen the discussion on their respective proposals, he added, while noting that each party “continued to reject the proposal of the other as the sole basis for future negotiations, while reiterating their willingness to work together to reach a solution.”

They also deepened their discussion on demining, natural resources and environment, without prejudice to the definitive status of the territory, and welcomed the progress accomplished on these topics.

Delegations from the neighbouring states, Algeria and Mauritania, were also present during certain sessions of the three-day talks.


Source: 13 March 2012, www.un.org 

Arab Spring topples tyrants, but not Morocco's absolute monarch Mohammed VI

Moroccan King Mohammed VI has been immune so far from the rumblings of the Arab Spring. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

HE likes his favourite toys to be in good repair. In fact, King Mohammed VI of Morocco has been known to fly his Aston Martin on a Hercules transporter to the manufacturer in Britain for a tune-up.

More than five million of his subjects live on less than $1.50 a day. But "His Majesty", as even close family members must call him, does not have to scrimp or save, for the people's generosity is limitless. He gets $38 million a year in public funds as "pocket money", which he spends as he pleases, according to the authors of Le Roi Predateur (The Predator King). The book, published in Paris this month, offers a rare insight into the extraordinarily lavish domain of one of the world's last absolute monarchs. He spends $1.4m a year on pet food and twice that on his wardrobe.

His 12 palaces are kept fully staffed, airconditioned at a steady 17C and stocked with every delicacy known to man on the off-chance Mohammed might drop in. The palaces cost taxpayers $1.5m a day to run but the king uses only four of them.

Such extravagance highlights an intriguing mystery of the so-called Arab Spring: how have the Middle East's corrupt and profligate monarchies managed to survive the anger that has toppled so many of the region's regimes?

From Bahrain to Jordan, emirs and kings have faced protests, yet not one of them has been forced to flee like Tunisia's Zine El Abedine Ben Ali, been forced to resign like Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, or been captured and killed like Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi.

Moroccans revere their monarch, who, at 48, is a different breed from the hopelessly out-of-touch geriatrics who governed Egypt and Tunisia. In 2002, he married Princess Lalla Salma, who attended Prince William's wedding last year and is the first wife of a Moroccan monarch to have been publicly acknowledged and given a royal title.

Yet tolerance of royal excesses is waning, say Catherine Graciet and Eric Laurent, the book's journalist authors, who claim to have had access to palace sources.

The king's inauguration ceremony in 1999, when he was introduced to the people as "king of the poor", seems a distant memory.

Not content with draining the state's coffers, "King Midas" has got his hands on the economy, too. Nowadays critics call him "chief executive of Morocco Inc" because he controls so much of the north African country's agriculture and industry through various royal holding companies.

With a fortune estimated at $3 billion, Mohammed has become richer even than the rulers of many oil-producing states. "He has taken over all of the key sectors of the economy," says the book. He is the country's foremost banker, insurer, exporter and agricultural producer."

His taste for luxury is exemplified not least in his collection of flashy cars. "Almost every morning, he demands around a dozen cars from his collection to be paraded before him to help him decide which one he wants to use. Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maybach . . . he has quite a choice."

When it comes to tailoring, only the best will do. He was once said to have spent $52,000 in London on an overcoat. On foreign trips, it is not unusual for him to be accompanied by 300 guests dispersed in various aircraft. His private jet is equipped with a gym.

With the flashy lifestyle goes a volatile, capricious temperament and the king, who suffered severe corporal punishment at the hands of his father, King Hassan II, is known for his violent rages, in which he lashes out at his aides.

None of it stops French public figures trying to find favour with him. Many, such as Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced Socialist politician and former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, have holiday homes in Marrakech; Jacques Chirac, the former French president, who was a friend of Mohammed's father, is often to be found by the poolside of the luxury Gazelle d'Or hotel in Taroudant.

French support counts for nothing in the eyes of the mob, however, and Mohammed cleverly pre-empted the Arab Spring protests last year by rewriting his country's constitution and giving greater power to elected politicians. However, he has kept a firm grip on security, the army and religious affairs: he knows that his people are angry.

Rampant corruption stretches into the palace, according to cables from the American embassy that were released by WikiLeaks. One ambassador complained in a cable to Washington of "the appalling greed of those close to" the king.

"Major institutions of the Moroccan state are used by the palace to coerce and solicit bribes in the real estate sector," a senior Moroccan businessman was quoted in one of the cables as saying. Needless to say, the palace dismisses such claims as impertinent lies.

Source: March 13, 201212:00AM, The Sunday Times, by: Matthew Campbell, Paris

Morocco rejects bomb case appeal, ups sentence to death

RABAT (Reuters) - A Moroccan court on Friday rejected appeals from two men convicted over the bombing of a cafe in Marrakesh that killed 17 people in April, and raised the life term imposed on one of them to the death penalty, state media reported.

The court sentenced to death Karim Dah, who was jailed in October for being an accomplice in the bomb attack, the deadliest in almost ten years in Morocco.

It also upheld a death penalty on Adel Othmani, convicted of planting the bombs, the official MAP news agency reported.

Othmani had denied the charges, which included making explosives and murder, and said he was a victim of a conspiracy.

He was accused of planting two bombs in a cafe in Jamaa el-Fna, Marrakesh's most popular tourist attraction. Dah, the prosecution said, had been aware of Othmani's plans and assisted him.

The interior ministry said Othmani showed loyalty to al Qaeda but local affiliates of the group have denied involvement.

It was the country's worst bomb attack since coordinated suicide bombings carried out by Islamist militants in the commercial capital, Casablanca, in 2003.

The death penalty is allowed under Morocco's penal code but it has not been carried out since 1992.

Soource: Reuter, Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:20am GMT, © Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved

Moroccan appeals court stiffens penalties for defendants in Marrakech bombing

RABAT, Morocco — A Moroccan appeals court handed down harsher sentences for the defendants convicted in the April 2011 bombing of a cafe in Marrakech that killed 17 people, most of them foreign tourists.

In addition to confirming the death sentence for the ringleader, Adel al-Othmani, the court on Friday night changed the life sentence of his associate Hakim Dah into capital punishment.

Six other defendants convicted of being associated with the bombing had their prison sentences of two and four years increased to 10 years. Only one defendant, Abdel-Fattah Dehaj, kept his two-year sentence.

Mohammed Najimi, who had originally been given a two-year suspended sentence for providing evidence for the prosecution against al-Othmani also had his sentence increased to 10 years.

The April 28 attack shook relatively peaceful Morocco, a staunch U.S. ally that drew nearly 10 million tourists last year to its sandy beaches, desert and mountain landscapes, and historic sites.

The blast killed eight French tourists in addition to British, Swiss, Moroccan and Portuguese victims in the popular Argana cafe overlooking the main square of historic Marrakech. The trial was closely followed by the French press.

Police originally believed the al-Qaida terrorist network was behind the attack, but in the end concluded that it was largely the work of al-Othmani, who had been inspired by the militant group.

Al-Othmani was convicted in October of dressing like a tourist and planting the bomb in the Argana cafe before setting it off with his mobile phone. The others were charged with membership in a criminal organization and having knowledge of the attack.

Defense attorneys had countered that the case against their clients was based on confessions coerced through torture and lacked hard evidence. Many of them testified they had barely known al-Othmani.

The original trial was often tense, being attended by both the families of victims and the families of the defendants, most of whom are from the poor city of Safi.

After the October verdict, many of the French audience members complained that the two-to-four year sentences were too light.

“The families of the French victims protested against the verdict to the judge, which pushed the royal prosecutor to immediately appeal the convictions,” defense attorney Mohammed Sadko told The Associated Press Saturday. “These penalties are scandalous. The royal prosecutor just asked for a confirmation of the (life) sentence against Hakim Dah, but the judge condemned him to death.”

Legal experts have often criticized the high conviction rates, often based on flimsy evidence, in Moroccan courts, especially in terrorism-related trials. Defense attorneys were not allowed to call witnesses in the original trial, which was largely based on the confessions obtained by police.

France and Morocco are close allies and the new sentences were announced the same day French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe was visiting.

Morocco has been spared attacks by organized militant groups such as al-Qaida, which has a strong presence in neighboring Algeria. But it is plagued by so-called “lone-wolf” attacks of small cells inspired by extremist ideology.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: By Associated Press, Published: March 10. by: Washingtonpost.com

Juppe: Morocco's proposal best plan for Western Sahara

Juppe: We encourage Algeria-Morocco rapprochement

French FM says Morocco's plan for granting disputed territory of Western Sahara autonomous status is only realistic proposal.

RABAT - Morocco's plan for granting the disputed territory of Western Sahara autonomous status is the only realistic proposal for the territory, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Wednesday.

"We still think that the Moroccan autonomy plan, which today is the only realistic proposal on the table, forms the serious and credible basis of a solution," he told Morocco's MAP news agency.

But the dispute still needed to be handled within the framework of the United Nations talks, he said.

And it should not be allowed to hamper the ongoing rapprochement between the leaders of Morocco and neighbour Algeria, he added, saying: "We can only encourage them in this direction."

Juppe's comments came ahead of the start of his official visit to Morocco on Thursday and Friday -- and soon after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed the Moroccan plan during a visit there last month.

Clinton, speaking during a visit to Rabat on February 26, described the autonomy plan as "serious, credible and realistic".

She also backed the UN-mediated talks on the issue.

But the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which is fighting for independence for Western Sahara has rejected the Moroccan plan.

Morocco moved into Western Sahara when Spanish colonisers left in 1975, sparking the conflict with the Polisario Front until a ceasefire in 1991.

The United Nations is due to host another round of talks on the Western Sahara from Sunday to Tuesday in the suburbs of New York. But the UN-sponsored talks to resolve the dispute have made no progress over the past two years.

Source: Middle East Online

HM the King appoints Taib Fassi Fihri his advisor

Rabat  -  HM King Mohammed VI has appointed Taib Fassi Fihri as his advisor in the Royal Cabinet, the Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery announced on Monday in a statement.

The statement said the appointment came in view of the experience Taib Fassi Fihri, outgoing Foreign Minister, has accumulated in discharging the missions entrusted to him and his abnegation in fulfilling them.

In 1980, Fassi Fihri , who was born on 9 April 1958 in Casablanca, obtained a diploma in statistcs application from the Institut national de la statistique et d'économie appliquée (INSEA) of Rabat.

A year later, he obtained a master’s degree in public economics and planning from the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris. In 1984, he obtained PhD in economic analysis and policy from the Institut d'études politiques in Paris.  

Fassi Fihri had held several posts in the ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation, before he was appointed as secretary of state for foreign affairs in November 1999.

He was appointed in charge of a mission in the Royal Cabinet in 1998.

In November 2002, he was appointed by HM King Mohammed VI minister delegate to the minister of foreign affairs and cooperation. In 2007, he became minister of foreign affairs and cooperation.

Source: @Map (Maghreb Arabe Presse) ,Last modified : 02 January 2012