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P 131702Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
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RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2732
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RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 3953
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 8570
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 1093
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS RABAT 000062 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
 
 
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000062 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS 
 
¶1.  (U) Contents 
 
--PPS Consolidates Socialist Alliance, Prepares Congress 
--Eid al-Adha: Prayer, Sacrifice, and Pardon 
--Morocco and Kuwait Join Forces to Promote Moderate Islam 
--King Supports Moroccan Children's Parliament 
--Morocco Creates Young Scientist Academy 
--Vietnam Opens Embassy in Rabat 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
PPS Consolidates Socialist Alliance, Prepares Congress 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The leftist Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS) 
and its Socialist Alliance partner Al Ahd decided in December 
2005 to maintain their partnership after the Socialist and 
Democratic Party (PSD), the third Alliance partner, defected 
in December 2005 to the Socialist Union of Popular Forces 
(USFP) party, according to the Moroccan press.  The parties 
agreed that PPS president Ismail Alaoui would lead the 
Alliance and that Al Ahd leader, Najib Ouazzani, would serve 
as vice president.  The PPS is also reeling from the 
resignation of two of its parliamentarians, Zhor Chekkafi and 
Miloud Chaabi.  According to Moroccan press sources, Chekkafi 
left in January 2006 to protest her marginalization and 
discrimination within the party.  Chaabi, meanwhile, resigned 
in October 2005 for "personal and professional reasons." 
PSD's defection and the departure of Chekkafi and Chaabi mean 
that the Alliance, which had been the seventh largest caucus 
in parliament, now falls four seats shy of the 20 required to 
form a caucus in the lower house.  The PPS will hold its 
seventh annual national congress in April 2006. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Eid al-Adha: Prayer, Sacrifice, and Pardon 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (U) To mark the occasion of Eid al-Adha on January 11, 
King Mohammed VI performed the Eid al-Adha prayer at the Ahl 
Fes mosque in Rabat, accompanied by his younger brother, 
Prince Moulay Rachid, and cousin, Prince Moulay Ismail. 
Following the prayer, the King took part in the ritual 
sacrificing of a ram in front of a distinguished audience 
that included the Prime Minister, speakers of both chambers 
of parliament, royal advisers, and other civilian and 
military officials.  Keeping in line with his tradition on 
the occasion of important religious or national holidays, the 
King pardoned or reduced the sentences of 1059 prisoners, 
according to Moroccan press. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
Morocco and Kuwait Join Forces to Promote Moderate Islam 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶4.  (U) On December 27, Minister of Islamic Affairs Ahmed 
Toufiq, inked with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Abdullah al 
Maatouq, a Memorandum of Understanding on Islamic affairs 
that aims at promoting religious moderation and a return to 
Islam's original principles via modern technology and media. 
According to Kuwaiti press, in a statement delivered at the 
signing ceremony Toufiq highlighted the necessity to counter 
extremism in the name of religion.  In other bilateral news, 
earlier in December, Kuwait and Morocco held a cultural week 
in Kenitra, located 60 kilometers north of the capital, that 
focused on creativity in literature.  The event was organized 
with the cooperation of the Moroccan Author's Association as 
well as the Ministries of Education and Culture, and featured 
poets, intellectuals, and authors from both countries. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
King Supports Moroccan Children's Parliament 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) On January 8, in message read by Princess Lalla 
Meriem (the King's eldest sister), King Mohammed VI 
reaffirmed to the fifth session of the Children's Parliament 
his desire for a national plan to promote the rights and 
improve the situation of children in Morocco (NB: the King 
first called for a national plan for children in May 2004). 
The session held in Rabat and chaired by Princess Lalla 
Meriem, who serves as president of the National Observatory 
for Children's Rights and of the Children's Parliament, 
brought together kids from all over Morocco to foster 
interaction and debate.  In his message, the King noted that 
he views the Children's Parliament as "tantamount to a school 
grooming children in democratic practice and civil attitudes, 
arousing greater awareness of the virtues of dialogue, 
coexistence, and open-mindedness, and shunning all forms of 
exclusion and extremism." 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Morocco Creates Young Scientist Academy 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) On the heels of last month's meeting of the World 
Academy for Young Scientists in Marrakech, the Moroccan 
government established on January 6 its own academy for young 
scientists in an effort to encourage and promote scientific 
research and strengthen communication within the Moroccan 
scientific community.  According to official news agency 
Maghreb Arabe Presse, the Minister of National Education and 
Scientific Research, Habib El Malki, has urged the academy to 
raise awareness on the importance of conbining scientific 
knowledge with religious and cultural values to contribute to 
sustainable development and to tackle the challenges 
associated with globalization and international changes. 
 
------------------------------ 
Vietnam Opens Embassy in Rabat 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (U) On December 23, the speaker of the Vietnamese 
National Assembly, Nguyen Van An, attended the inauguration 
of Vietnam's embassy in Rabat.  Also in attendance was 
Abdelwahad Radi, speaker of the Moroccan House of 
Representatives.  The new Vietnamese ambassador to Rabat, Ngu 
Tay Dyung, expressed his desire that the embassy contribute 
to developing and reinforcing bilateral relations at all 
levels, while Radi added that this will open new important 
markets for Morocco in Asia. 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
Riley