VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0409/01 1351345
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151345Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0120
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 4602

UNCLAS RABAT 000409 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG 
PLS PASS TO FORMER PPRESIDENT CARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON PREL PHUM MO
SUBJECT: SCENE SETTER FOR FPOTUS CARTER 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Former President Carter, my 
staff and I warmly welcome you and the delegation of 
The Elders to Morocco.  The Kingdom of Morocco is a 
country "on the move," in the throes, albeit 
unevenly, of change and reform.  Economic growth 
will continue to approach six percent per year 
despite the global financial crisis.  A bumper crop 
will offset drops in investment, tourism and 
remittances, which have boomed in recent years and 
have become important sources of income.  Slums are 
coming down, and according to official statistics, 
so is unemployment.  Freedom of the press is greater 
than seen here ever before and than in the rest of 
the region, but those who cross redlines can still 
face jail.  Other human rights have grown as well, 
although Morocco remains very much under the control 
of a monarchy and a system with roots going back 
hundreds of years.  Neither the Parliament nor the 
33 political parties with seats in it have much 
power.  Most voters stayed away from the last 
parliamentary election in 2007 which saw the first 
international observation ever, funded by the USG. 
Some 35,000 local council seats are up for grabs in 
elections on June 12.  Morocco recently allocated to 
women some 3,000 of those seats (12 percent, up from 
0.5 percent or 130 seats at present), and the USG 
has funded campaign training for over 3,500 women 
candidates in the last 90 days.  Morocco's top 
priority in foreign relations is U.S. and other 
countries is broader international support for its 
position on the Western Sahara territorial dispute 
and for North African integration.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) We understand that you will meet during 
your stay here with Andre Azoulay, a close mission 
contact and highly respected Counselor to King 
Mohammed VI.  As the most prominent Jewish Moroccan 
and a moderate voice on the Middle East, he promotes 
Moroccan religious tolerance through a variety of 
ways, including the arts.  Morocco is protective of 
the tiny remnant of its once substantial Jewish 
minority.  The late King Hassan II helped promote 
Middle East peace by welcoming then Prime Minister 
Shimon Peres for an official visit in 1986, and 
Morocco can have a similar, peripherally supportive 
role in the future.  King Mohammed VI chairs the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference's (OIC's) 
Jerusalem Committee and has lobbied hard against any 
efforts to change the historically Islamic and Arab 
characteristics of the city, including residence 
demolitions. 
 
------------------------------- 
Economics, Trade and Assistance 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The economy is relatively healthy, 
although marred by disparities in wealth.  Growth is 
expected to be above five percent this year, despite 
the global economic slowdown, thanks to anticipated 
bumper harvests.  Moroccan authorities are 
concerned, however, about the risk of more serious 
impacts on important export, tourism, and remittance 
earnings if the global recession continues.  Since 
implementation of the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA) on January 1, 2006, bilateral 
commerce has more than doubled.  U.S. firms have 
increased their investment in Morocco, seeing new 
markets develop as a result of the FTA. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) We are focusing our bilateral assistance 
to Morocco on youth and women, targeting four 
priorities: economic growth, counterterrorism, 
democracy and governance, and supporting quality 
education.  U.S. assistance includes projects under 
the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), USAID, 
Peace Corps, and the Middle East Partnership 
Initiative (MEPI).  Building on decades of USAID and 
Peace Corps efforts, the MCC signed a five-year, USD 
697.5 million Millennium Challenge Account Compact 
with Morocco in 2007 to reduce poverty and increase 
economic growth.  The MCC will support five major 
projects selected for their potential to increase 
productivity and improve employment in high 
potential sectors of Morocco's economy:  Fruit Tree 
Productivity, Small Scale Fisheries, Crafts, 
Financial Services, and Enterprise Support. 
 
--------------- 
Internal Issues 
--------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Governance Reform:  Morocco's political 
parties and the bicameral parliament are weak.  The 
Parliament provides no effective check on the 
monarchy or government.  Constitutional change may 
someday lead to increased democracy, but both 
Parliament and parties will have to improve their 
capacity and performance.  Although the September 
2007 parliamentary elections were the most 
transparent in the country's history, record low 
participation, i.e., 37 percent of registered 
voters, reflects the lack of voter confidence in the 
institution. 
 
¶6.  (U) June Local Elections:  The Government of 
Morocco has allocated 12 percent of the seats in 
hotly contested local and municipal council 
elections on June 12, up from less than 0.5 percent 
now.  The entry into politics of over 3,000 elected 
women office holders (the 130 now in office have 
historically been more effective and immune to 
corruption) and many thousands more candidates can 
have potentially transformational impact.  The USG 
has sponsored the training of over 3,500 women over 
the past 90 days, via an unusual collaborative 
project between the National Democratic Institute 
(NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI). 
NDI is also training party poll watchers, but we are 
unaware of any formal international observation or 
great interest in it for this election.  Some of the 
most interesting contests, including in Marrakesh, 
will involve a new Party, the Party of Authenticity 
and Modernity (PAM), founded by a well-known friend 
of the King and former Deputy Interior Minister 
Fouad Ali el Himma.  Among the leading parties are 
Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi's Istiqlal, the 
Islamist-referent Party of Justice and Development 
(PJD) and the Socialist USFP, which lost votes last 
time out. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Human Rights and Reform:  King Mohammed VI 
has embarked on an ambitious and continuous program 
of human rights reforms that includes the Arab 
world's first truth commission, a revised family 
code and growing governmental transparency, 
accountability and rule of law.  2008 saw some 
incidents of concern related to freedoms of 
expression and press.  Although Morocco is a paragon 
of reform in the region, the reforms are still not 
deeply rooted in law or Constitution and could be 
rolled back.  Continued support and encouragement 
from partners like the United States and Europe are 
essential.  One recent development is the expansion 
of cultural rights and outlets for Berbers, one of 
the largest groups in Morocco and perhaps the 
largest. 
 
--------------- 
External Issues 
--------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Western Sahara:  Moroccan foreign policy 
is dominated by defending and seeking international 
recognition of its sovereignty claims over Western 
Sahara.  The issue is a source of tension with long- 
time rival Algeria, which has historically supported 
the POLISARIO Front's quest for independence by way 
of a UN-sponsored referendum.  The issue led Morocco 
to leave the African Union.  In April 2007, Morocco 
proposed a new autonomy plan for Western Sahara, and 
a series of UN-sponsored negotiations with the 
POLISARIO have taken place in Manhasset, New York. 
The Moroccan proposal would provide Sahrawis, the 
indigenous people of Western Sahara, autonomy in 
administering local affairs under Moroccan 
sovereignty.  There have been four rounds of talks 
but none since the April 2008 renewal of the mandate 
of the UN peacekeeping mission, MINURSO.  Following 
the controversial lapsing of the contract of the 
former UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy, the UN 
selected retired U.S. Ambassador Chris Ross to be 
the new Personal Envoy.  The U.S. Government has 
called for the new envoy to maintain past progress. 
In April, the UN renewed the mandate of the UN 
peacekeeping operation until 2010. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Western Sahara Continued:  Sahara 
experienced gross violations of human rights from 
1975 until the end of the Hassan II regime and 
repression increased after the short-lived Sahrawi 
"intifada" of 2005.  Since late 2006, Morocco has 
slowly improved the human rights situation in the 
territories.  Arbitrary arrests have sharply 
diminished and beatings and physical abuse by 
security forces have all but disappeared.  Even 
dissenters now can travel freely.  They cannot, 
however, publish or speak publicly in support of 
independence, or a vote on self-determination. 
 
Jackson