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P 191739Z DEC 05
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
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INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 2740
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0568
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0163
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3604
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0407
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 7359

C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 001304 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2015 
TAGS: ECON MO PGOV PINS
SUBJECT: THE EXTREMIST CHALLENGE IN CASABLANCA'S SLUMS: THE 
VIEW FROM GROUND ZERO 
 
Classified By: Classified by Principle Officer Douglas C. Greene, E.O. 
12958 Reasons 1.4 (b/d) 
 
 
¶1.    (C) Summary:  Casablanca,s senior urban managers are 
increasingly active and focused in their efforts to deal with 
the challenges posed by poverty and hopelessness in the 
city,s poorest neighborhoods.   Their strategy is to counter 
the active Islamist presence by providing increased services, 
support, and presence -- where very little existed before the 
Casablanca bombings in 2003 ) for the population.  Though 
they are optimistic and determined, and have found strong 
support from King Mohammed, none suggest their efforts will 
lead to quick success.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.    (C)  Ground zero for the Moroccan government,s efforts 
to deal with the Islamic extremist threat is Sidi Moumen, the 
district where many of those responsible for carrying out the 
May, 2003 Casablanca bombings came from.  It remains a very 
poor neighborhood, with some 300,000 inhabitants who live in 
slums (&bidonvilles8 in the local parlance) or near-slums. 
The GOM strategy to deal with the extremist threat spawned by 
the poverty and hopelessness of its large urban underclass 
has several layers, among them local, district-specific 
initiatives aimed at filling the vacuum in services and 
support for the poor, which Islamist groups, some with 
extremist goals, are also trying to fill. 
 
¶3.     (C)  During a recent round of meetings with 
Casablanca,s governors, we had a chance to discuss some of 
the on-the-ground efforts of city leaders who are responsible 
for the day-to-day management of issues at the level of the 
city,s eight prefectures.  One of those governors, whose 
jurisdiction covers Sidi Moumen in the district of Sidi 
Bernoussi, was Hassan Ben M,Barek.   M,Barkek is in his 
mid-fifties, French-educated, and has risen through the 
greater Casablanca bureaucracy in a succession of staff jobs. 
 He is sharp, activist, practical, and unpretentious.  His 
selection as governor in 2000 reflects the strong confidence 
in his experience and capabilities by the new team brought in 
by the King to manage the city after the 2003 bombings. 
 
¶4.    (C) Ben M,Barek operates in a new bureaucratic 
framework with considerable less autonomy then Casablanca,s 
prefecture governors once enjoyed.  He reports to the Wali of 
Casablanca, a trusted advisor to the King, former Minister of 
Finance, and agile businessman, who the King appointed this 
year.  Together with his fellow governors ) most of whom 
echoed the views of Ben M,Barek on dealing with the 
influence of extremists in the slums --  the Wali has 
responsibility for coordinating efforts throughout the city, 
and for delivering instructions from the King, and filtering 
advice to the King on what have become issues which are 
directly linked to stability in the Kingdom. 
 
¶5.    (C)  Inside of his office, Ben M,Barek had a stack of 
recent, poster-size satellite photos of his prefecture.  Each 
was overlayed with notations describing and locating various 
NGO and other private projects underway or planned.  On his 
desk, he was proud to display the &master plan8 for his 
prefecture ) a well-organized, tabbed three ring binder with 
details on the multiple government sponsored projects aimed 
at the poorest neighborhoods in his district.   Summarizing 
his strategy, he explained that the projects were his 
&weapons8 in the &war8 for the hearts and minds of those 
in his prefecture. 
 
¶6.    (C) Ben M,Barek was adamant that he would win against 
extremists, who he openly acknowledged were in competition 
with him.  &The people will go in the direction of which 
side meets their basic needs ) shelter, education, 
electricity, water, and other services.  We are going to do 
that.8    He explained that, until the last couple of years, 
there was a vacuum in Sidi Moumen.  Islamic groups had 
stepped in to fill part of it, meeting some of the service 
needs of the population.  This is no longer the case, 
however.  &They will be easy to defeat ) all it requires is 
time and resources.  The people just want to know that 
someone is looking after their needs.8  Another governor 
told us that he is in active competition with Islamist 
groups:  &they are there ) we see them in the same 
neighborhoods every day.8 
 
¶7.     (C) When we asked hether the budgets he had were 
sufficient to mov ahead with all of his plans, Ben M,Barek 
was moe cautious.  &It,s ok, but not perfect.  But you 
 
have to work with what you have.8  He was optimistic, 
however, that more funding was on the way.  His district has 
been showered with royal attention.  Since the Casablanca 
bombings, he said, the King had made five visits to Sidi 
Moumen.  &He knows the neighborhoods, knows the territory. 
He understands what needs to be done.8  NGOs, the World 
Bank, as well as many other domestic organizations have come 
to review projects and funding needs. 
 
¶8.    (C) Comment:  What is clear is that the city,s 
leadership has recognized the consequences of problems in 
Casablanca,s poorest neighborhoods and has a strategy and 
the will to address them.  What is less clear is that they 
have the resources to do so, or that overcoming extremist 
Islamist challenges, at a local level, will be as 
straightforward a task as Ben M,Barek suggests.  Progress is 
being made, but winning will be a longer-term effort.   As 
one governor put it, the effort is still in its infancy.  He 
recounted his satisfaction when, the previous evening, he 
went to the poorest area of his district and inaugurated a 
new soccer field for teens.  When he saw the hundreds of kids 
gathered, and their happiness at having a place to come to 
play, he told us he turned to his chief of staff and said 
&we,ve occupied the territory ) that is a step forward.8 
 
 
GREENE