VZCZCXYZ0014
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0085/01 0191530
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191530Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2524
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 1111
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3955
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5316
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2734
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 3669
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0416
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS RABAT 000085 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE, SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PTER KAWC KPAO MO
 
SUBJECT:  MOROCCO: TERRORIST VICTIM NGOS 
 
REF: A: SECSTATE 218921 
 
¶1.  (SBU) As requested reftel, Post offers the following 
information on Moroccan non-governmental organizations that 
provide support or services to the victims and families of 
the Casablanca terrorist attacks on May 16, 2003, or are 
engaged in activities designed to blunt the appeal of 
Islamic extremism.  To our knowledge, there is no central 
office within the Moroccan government (GOM) that is charged 
with interaction with these groups, though we note that 
collaboration exists between them and the GOM.  Post 
recommends that U.S.-based groups interested in working with 
these organizations contact them directly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Begin listing: 
 
--Name:  Association of Families of May 16 Victims 
Leader:  Souad Khammal 
Founded:  October 2003 
Telephone:  212 61 32 93 82 
Composition:  25 families of May 16 victims constituting 
some 200 people.  Mrs. Khammal's husband and son both died 
in the May 16 bombings. 
 
Objectives:  To ensure that the lives of those lost in the 
May 16 attacks are never forgotten, the association 
commemorates the victims on the anniversary of the bombings 
and organizes protest marches in reaction to international 
terrorist attacks.  It also fights for compensation (in the 
form of money, jobs, and scholarships) for the families of 
those who perished and provides psychological support to the 
children of victims. 
 
Type of Support:  The association helped prepare May 16 
commemoration ceremonies in 2004 and 2005.  It also 
organized activities for school- and college-aged 
individuals aimed at sensitizing them to the dangers of 
fundamentalism and promoting the ideals of solidarity and 
mutual assistance in Islam. 
 
Government Interaction:  By royal decree, the GOM disbursed 
500,000 Dirhams (approximately $55,000) to each of the 25 
families after the May 16 bombings. 
 
--Name:  Association of May 16 Victims 
Leader:  Cherif Zarouki 
Founded:  November 2003 
Telephone:  Unknown. 
 
Composition:  The victims of May 16, 2003 terrorist attacks 
in Casablanca.  The association's vice president is Mohamed 
Mahboub, formerly head waiter at the Spanish Club bombing 
site in Casablanca.  45 founding members. 
 
Objectives:  To defend the interests and serve as the 
official interlocutor of the May 16 victims.  To seek 
compensation for those injured in the blasts. 
 
Type of Support:  Unknown. 
 
Government Interaction:  Unknown. 
 
--Name:  The Moroccan Organization against the Culture of 
Hatred and Racism 
Leader:  Jamal Berraoui 
Founded:  May 2003 
Telephone:  212 60 99 73 56 
 
Composition:  Founded by a group of civil society activists 
following the May 16 attacks, the group's executive board is 
led by journalist Jamal Berraoui and includes prominent 
Moroccan Jew Simon Levy, who is also secretary general of 
the Judeo-Moroccan Cultural Heritage Foundation, director of 
the Arab world's only museum devoted to Jewish culture (in 
Casablanca), and a leader of the Jewish community in 
Casablanca. 
 
Objectives:  To develop a well-defined social action plan 
for combating the spread of hatred and extremism in Moroccan 
society. 
 
Type of Support:  The group has established an observatory 
to denounce discourses that propagate hate in Morocco, set 
 
up a committee to assist the GOM in modernizing children's 
school books, and launched an awareness campaign for youth 
and women on the dangers of extremism. 
 
Government Interaction:  Unknown. 
 
--Name:  Reseau Maillage Maroc 
Leader:  Ahmed Ghayet 
Founded:  March 2003 
Telephone:  212 63 42 54 25 
Address:  246 Bd. Zerktouni - Maarif, Casablanca 
E-mail:  R.maillage@gmail.com 
 
Composition:  Reseau Maillage's national network groups 
together 52 different urban youth associations located in 
Morocco's largest cities, including Casablanca, Rabat, Sale, 
Mohammedia, Meknes, Temara, Beni Mellal, Laayoune (in the 
Western Sahara), among others.  As of January 2006, 
Maillage's national network comprised some 6,000 Moroccan 
youths, according to Mr. Ghayet. 
 
Objectives:  To help Moroccan youth become masters of their 
own destiny and to improve their social condition. 
 
Type of Support:  The organization of civic, educational, 
cultural and sport activities in poor, urban neighborhoods 
as an alternative to youth involvement in delinquency, 
drugs, illegal immigration and Islamic extremism. 
 
Government Interaction:  Reseau Maillage has received 
funding from the Regional Council of Casablanca (regionally 
elected government), the Municipal Council of Casablanca 
(locally elected government), and Rabat's National 
Assistance System, according to press sources.  According to 
Mr. Ghayet, the organization will receive 25,000 Dirhams 
(approximately $2750) in public funding in 2006, which is a 
substantial decrease from the 100,000 Dirhams (approximately 
$11,000) it received in 2005.  In addition, Mr. Ghayet 
receives a monthly salary from the Wali of Casablanca and 
the Wali of Rabat (Interior Ministry). 
 
End listing. 
 
RILEY