VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #1358/01 1981707
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171707Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4262
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4080
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3018
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 3235
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4289
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 3461
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 8969
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 1899
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1875

UNCLAS RABAT 001358 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINR MO
SUBJECT: PJD AND HAMAS: MOROCCAN POLITICAL PARTY SUPPORTS 
TERRORIST ENTITY? 
 
REF: A. RABAT 565 
     ¶B. RABAT 308 
     ¶C. RABAT 617 
     ¶D. RABAT 48 
     ¶E. CASABLANCA 737 
     ¶F. RABAT 1272 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary: Morocco's largest Islamist political party, 
the Party of Justice and Development (PJD) (Ref A), could win 
up to 46 percent of the votes in the 2007 legislative 
elections, according to results from a hypothetical vote 
question in a poll conducted by the International Republican 
Institute (IRI) (Ref B), funded by MEPI.  The PJD is 
considered by many press outlets as the new face of moderate 
political Islam because of its commitment to transparency 
(Ref C), but the same press outlets also regard that the PJD 
openly supports and has frequent contact with the radical 
Palestinian movement Hamas.  PJD-affiliated Arabic daily 
Attajdid was the first Moroccan newspaper to congratulate 
Hamas for its victory in the Palestinian elections and is 
consistently supportive of the group. PJD members met with 
Hamas leaders in Syria and Lebanon and received a Hamas 
delegation in Morocco in May. Many PJD members have links to 
the Union of Good or other Hamas-funding organizations, 
categorized as terrorist entities by the U.S. Government. The 
following information originates from public sources.  End 
Summary. 
 
---------------- 
The Media's Role 
---------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) PJD-affiliated Arabic daily Attajdid was the first 
Moroccan newspaper to congratulate Hamas for its victory in 
the January Palestinian legislative elections. On January 26, 
the newspaper declared the victory to be the "result of God's 
will" and an editorial published January 27 pronounced 
Hamas's victory the "beginning of the Palestinian people's 
salvation."  The French language daily, Aujourd'hui le Maroc 
(June 26), called Attajdid irresponsible for failing to 
acknowledge the real political and economic risk that the 
election of Hamas presented to the Palestinian people's place 
in the international community. 
 
¶3.  (U) According to the Center for the Study of Popular 
Culture's online publication, Front Page Magazine (April 20), 
a November 2004 Attajdid editorial written by PJD member and 
editor-in-chief of Attajdid, Mustafa Khalfi (Ref D), called 
for common action and reconciliation between the regimes and 
people of the Arab and Islamic worlds in order to prepare for 
what he considered a "very difficult stage" after President 
Bush's reelection. The PJD has also been critical of 
America's policy on Iraq (Ref E). 
 
---------------------- 
PJD and Hamas Contacts 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) The French language weekly, Telquel (June 10), 
reported that the PJD does not accept Israel's legitimacy and 
calls it the "Zionist entity."  It also reported that after 
the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Attajdid's editorial 
congratulated Palestine for recovering "all stolen 
Palestinian territories." The PJD considers Hamas the 
"democratically elected government of Palestine" and the 
Movement for Reform and Unification (MUR), a branch of the 
PJD, refers to "glorious Hamas" on its website. 
 
¶5.  (U) On May 6, PJD parliamentarians received a Hamas 
delegation attending the 17th Pan-Arab nationalist congress 
in Casablanca.  Abou Marzouk and Oussama Hamadane, two 
influential Hamas members, were present and met with PJD 
leaders.  (Note:  PJD Parliamentarians Mustapha Ramid and 
Mouqrie Abou Zeid regularly participate in Pan-Arab 
conferences in Syria and Lebanon where they meet with members 
of Hamas, according to Aljazeera and other press sources. End 
Note.)  According to the French language weekly, Le Journal 
Hebdomaire (July 7), many contacts were established between 
the heads of the PJD and Hamas during the congress. The PJD 
tried to organize official meetings between the Government of 
Morocco (GOM) and Hamas but was not successful, according to 
press sources. Le Journal Hebdomaire also reported that 
 
during the visit a group of PJD parliamentarians decided to 
cede one month's salary to Hamas to provide humanitarian 
support to the Palestinian people. 
 
------------------------------ 
PJD's Public Support of Hamas 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) Aujourd'hui le Maroc (June 26) reported that during an 
open session at Parliament, a group of PJD deputies, 
represented by Abouzid El Moqri'e El Idrissi, reminded the 
GOM that it was one of the few Arab states to continue 
contact with Israel and demanded the immediate 
discontinuation of any formal relationship. The group also 
called for the GOM to open itself to the Palestinian national 
government formed by Hamas. During the session, the PJD 
deputies called for an extraordinary session for the two 
houses of Parliament to further discuss the Palestinian 
cause. Although the PJD has called on the GOM to support 
Hamas, Aujourd'hui le Maroc (June 26) noted that the King 
consistently pledges concern and support for the Palestinian 
people, but not for Hamas. 
 
¶7. (U) The PJD denounces Israeli aggression in Palestine (Ref 
F) and helped organize a demonstration held July 8 in Rabat 
to show support for Hamas and Palestinians in the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
 
¶8. (U) According to Front Page Magazine (December 21), French 
newsmagazine, L'Express, stated that the PJD is close to the 
Muslim Brotherhood and that it follows a typical Islamist 
line.  Front Page Magazine (April 20) also reported that 
noted Moroccan political analyst, Said Elakhal, wrote in 
Aujourd'hui le Maroc that the PJD and Hamas have "the exact 
same ideology" based on their communiques and are both 
branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, although there is nothing 
to prove that an official network exists. 
 
------------------------------ 
"Links" to Terrorist Entities 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (U) The Attajdid web site has a link to the web site of 
the "Union of Good," an alleged umbrella organization of 
Hamas-funding charities established in October 2000 by Sheikh 
Yusuf Qaradawi, the group's president and "spiritual leader" 
of the Muslim Brotherhood. MUR is a member organization of 
the Union of Good and Dr. Abd Ziyad Al-Mughrabi al-Idrisi, a 
member of the PJD and the consultative council of the MUR, is 
a trustee of the Union of Good, according to Front Page 
Magazine (April 20). The Union of Good is constituted of at 
east five Specially Designated Terrorist entities SDGT) 
including Interpal, The Al-Awsa Foundation Belgium), le 
Comite de Bienfaisance et de Secour aux Palestiniens (CBSP), 
Sanabil al-Aqsa, and te Palestinian Relief Society 
(Switzerland). In adition, the Union of Good web site leads 
to the eb site of Interpal, a SDGT since August 22, 2003, 
pursuant to executive order 13224. 
 
***************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabt's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.go/p/nea/rabat 
***************************************** 
 
BUSH