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OO RUEHDE RUEHTRO
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ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 091245Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8541
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0404
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4776
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0609
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RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3602
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5973
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RUEHMS/AMEMBASSY MUSCAT 0142
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RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9614
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 4068
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0137
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 2236
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1944

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 RABAT 000416 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD AND NEA/MAG 
LONDON FOR MOC 
DUBAI FOR PELLETIER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2018 
TAGS: PHUM KPAO SCUL OIIP KIRC PGOV MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT SUSPENDS AL-JAZEERA BROADCASTS 
FROM RABAT 
 
REF: 07 RABAT 1799 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: The Government of Morocco (GOM) claims that 
its sudden decision to suspend Al-Jazeera's right to transmit 
its nightly Maghreb news broadcast from Rabat came as a 
result of Al-Jazeera's long-standing failure to secure a 
proper broadcast license.  Most independent observers 
discount this technical explanation, offering a variety of 
possible political reasons for the GOM's action, including 
that Fouad Ali El Himma was behind the decision due to his 
pique over commentary critical of his political followers. 
The practical impact of the GOM's decision is very limited, 
however; Al-Jazeera continues to report freely from Morocco 
and indeed is using its nightly Maghreb news bulletin ) 
currently airing directly from Doha ) to broadcast 
commentary and interviews slamming the GOM for its decision. 
The only short-term implication is that Al-Jazeera cannot 
broadcast its Maghreb news from its Rabat studio.  End 
summary. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Al-Jazeera Maghreb News Bulletin Suspended 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) On May 6, Al-Jazeera reported that the Moroccan 
authorities had suspended its license to broadcast from 
Rabat.  Notification occurred four hours before the Tuesday 
evening broadcast was to be aired, via a fax from the 
National Agency for Telecommunications Regulation (ANRT) to 
Al-Jazeera's Rabat headquarters.  The fax cited technical 
reasons, without providing further details.  Al-Jazeera had 
been broadcasting a nightly hour of news focused on North 
Africa at 2200 GMT since November 2006. 
 
¶3.  (U) Up to and including the day of the launch of the 
Maghreb news bulletin in late November 2006, Al-Jazeera was 
not positive that the Government of Morocco (GOM) would 
permit the broadcast to proceed.  The dispute revolved (and 
continues to revolve) around the nature of Al-Jazeera's 
presence.  Under Morocco's new broadcast law, any entity 
(foreign or domestic) wishing to broadcast from Morocco must 
incorporate a local company, and submit a license request to 
the Higher Audiovisual Communication Authority (HACA) for 
approval.  The submission must include a "cahiers des 
charges" (terms of reference), which inter alia outlines the 
type of programming to be broadcast.  (Note: after the 
broadcast law was passed, the USG had to go through this 
process to secure a license for Radio Sawa to operate 
locally, a process that took over a year.  End note.) 
 
¶4.  (U) From the beginning, Al-Jazeera contended that the 
broadcast law did not apply, as Al-Jazeera was transmitting 
the Maghreb news bulletin from its headquarters in Doha, even 
though the studio and the announcers were in Rabat.  The GOM 
never accepted this technical loophole, but did not prevent 
Al-Jazeera from launching its new broadcast.  Since then, the 
GOM has provided a succession of provisional three-month 
licenses, while renewing its demand for Al-Jazeera to 
formalize its presence. 
 
¶5.  (U) Following the May 6 decision, the GOM was initially 
unwilling to provide further information about the 
 
RABAT 00000416  002 OF 004 
 
 
suspension.  On May 8, however, a Moroccan daily with ties to 
the Government quoted Communications Minister and Government 
Spokesperson as saying that Al-Jazeera's broadcast had been 
"suspended, not banned."  He stated that "the suspension has 
technical causes; it is imperative for Al-Jazeera to 
regularize its legal and technical situation with HACA." 
Naim Kamal, a prominent journalist and HACA board member, 
provided the same explanation.  He cited a legal complication 
in Al-Jazeera's case, however, wondering whether it would be 
possible to limit its terms-of-reference to apply only to one 
hour of programming a day, when the channel broadcasts 24 
hours a day throughout the world. 
 
------------------------- 
Political Theories Abound 
------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (S) Neither Al-Jazeera nor the independent press is 
buying the GOM claim that the suspension was purely 
technical.  Al-Jazeera has long had a testy relationship with 
the GOM (and indeed the local media in general), coming under 
fire for reporting on issues ranging from Moroccan elections 
to Western Sahara.  Since the launch in 2006, there have been 
repeated rumors that the GOM was on the verge of closing down 
Al-Jazeera and/or evicting its Dutch/Morocco bureau chief 
Hassan Rachidi, most recently in November 2007 amidst 
allegations that Rachidi had been in contact with Al-Qaida in 
the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) leadership (reftel).  Most 
analysts therefore believe that the recent GOM decision was 
politically motivated. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) What precipitated the move is hotly contested, 
however.  The most common explanation, posited by analysts on 
Al-Jazeera and by several Moroccan dailies, is that the GOM 
was piqued over commentary made by veteran Egyptian 
journalist Mohamed Haykal, host of a weekly program on 
Al-Jazeera entitled "Ma'a Haykal" (With Haykal).  Haykal, 
long a virulent critic of the late King Hassan II, used his 
show last week to air old accusations about Hassan II's 
historical ties to Israel, and his alleged collaboration with 
French authorities in the kidnapping of Algerian resistance 
figures in the 1950s. 
 
¶8.  (S) A second theory ) advanced in print on April 8 by 
independent daily Al-Massae ) revolves around a recent 
Al-Jazeera interview with Adellatif Hosni, publisher of the 
Moroccan magazine "Wijhat Nadar."  Hosni lashed out at 
Moroccan political leaders who have aligned themselves with 
the political movement of Parliamentarian Fouad Ali Al Himma, 
calling them "luqata'" (an Arabic word meaning "orphans," but 
with derogatory connotations, such as "bastards").  Without 
citing this specific broadcast, a Gulfi businessman with 
media ties told Ambassador Riley that El Himma was behind the 
closure. 
 
¶9.  (C) Taoufiq Bouachrine, editor-in-chief of Al-Massae, 
wrote that it was an accumulation of coverage, including the 
items cited above, that led to the GOM's decision.  However, 
Reda Benjelloun, producer for 2m television, told us there 
was no political motivation, noting that the GOM had 
weathered substantial critical coverage from Al-Jazeera for 
years, and none of the recent stories had been substantively 
any different. 
 
 
RABAT 00000416  003 OF 004 
 
 
----------------- 
Next Steps for AJ 
----------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Al-Jazeera Rabat bureau chief Rachidi told us that 
Al-Jazeera will pursue the licensing procedures demanded by 
the GOM (indeed, he told Reporters without Borders that 
Al-Jazeera had already submitted the license request, but 
HACA had not yet acted on it).  He had been unable to get the 
GOM to provide a specific reason for the suspension beyond 
the technical one, and hoped it was only a warning. 
"Considering the way it was been presented to us," he said, 
"I don't think there will be a turning back."  In the 
meantime, Al-Jazeera would be relying on its bureau in 
Mauritania to manage the Maghreb news bulletin. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Ironically, Al-Jazeera had only days earlier taken 
an editorial decision to advance its Maghreb news bulletin by 
one half hour and incorporate it into its prime-time "Harvest 
of the Day" news broadcast, which begins at 2000 GMT and 
reportedly has a nightly audience of 16 million.  This 
decision came after Al-Jazeera had received numerous 
complaints from North African viewers that the 2200 GMT 
broadcast time was too late for most North African viewers 
(for whom it started at 2300 local time or later). 
 
---------------------- 
Harsh Press Commentary 
---------------------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Al-Jazeera is having a field day with this event, 
broadcasting commentary from Moroccan political analysts as 
well as numerous man-on-the-street interviews critical of the 
GOM decisions, and favorable towards Al-Jazeera's decision to 
devote an hour of news to the Maghreb.  Moroccan print media 
commentary, albeit very limited, has also criticized the GOM 
decision.  For example, Islamist daily Attajdid wrote in an 
April 8 editorial: "It seems that some circles do not care if 
Morocco makes reforms towards democracy.  It seems that those 
who decided on the ban have not (thought) seriously about the 
implications of the decision.  What if Libya and Algeria were 
to exploit that decision and host Al-Jazeera on their own 
territories?  What a shock it would be to Moroccans if 
Al-Jazeera moved its bureau to Nouakchott!!" 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (C) The truth of this story most likely resides 
somewhere in the middle between technical and political. 
There is no doubt that the GOM wants Al-Jazeera to be 
properly licensed, as this would bring its broadcasts (and 
possible not just those from Rabat) under the regulatory 
auspices of HACA, providing a point of reference for any 
future legal proceedings.  For example, Al-Jazeera would be 
required to follow HACA guidelines guaranteeing equitable 
coverage during Moroccan elections, something Al-Jazeera was 
exempt from during the 2007 national elections.  Arguing in 
favor of this technical explanation is the fact that the GOM 
has taken no steps to prevent Al-Jazeera from conducting and 
broadcasting critical interviews with Moroccans, from 
Morocco.  Thus the GOM is allowing Al-Jazeera to air far more 
regular and sharp criticism of the GOM than had recently been 
 
RABAT 00000416  004 OF 004 
 
 
broadcast. 
 
¶15.  (C) That said, it is difficult to imagine the decision 
was purely technical.  While Al-Jazeera had been warned to 
regularize its presence, it had been given no deadline and 
had never been told that suspension was imminent.  It seems 
likely the GOM used the technical question to fire a shot 
across Al-Jazeera's bow, most likely precipitated by the 
criticism of Al Himma's followers.  This fits in with the 
GOM's modus operandi with regard to the press: allow a great 
deal of freedom of expression, while providing regular 
reminders that the GOM has the power to yank (sharply) on the 
leash whenever it wants.  End comment. 
 
 
***************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
***************************************** 
 
Riley