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RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT IMMEDIATE 0023

S E C R E T CASABLANCA 000005 
 
NOFORN 
SENSITIVE 
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STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND INR/OPS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2020 
TAGS: PINR KISL GM MO
 
SUBJECT: MOHAMMED EL FIZAZI AND THE SALAFIST SHEIKHS 
OF MOROCCO (C-NC9-02281) 
 
REF: 2009 SECSTATE 120771 
     2009 Casablanca 90 
     2009 Casablanca 210 
 
Classified By: Consul General Elisabeth Millard for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: Moroccan Salafist Sheikh Mohammed 
El Fizazi's letter to his daughter in Germany, 
published by Der Spiegel in October 2009, in our 
view signals a carefully couched reassessment of his 
support for legitimate jihad but probably not a 
complete renunciation of violence.  Fizazi's letter 
provoked almost no reaction or comments by the 
Moroccan media and has not elicited a public 
response from other Salafist leaders in Morocco.  We 
believe the Government of Morocco (GOM) has engaged 
in some form dialogue with the Salafist Sheikhs in 
prison but it does not appear to have brokered a 
deal or persuaded them to recant.  Post will 
continue to monitor and report on developments 
concerning the situation of Morocco's Salafist 
prisoners.  Paragraph 7 contains responses to reftel 
A questions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Fizazi and the Salafist Sheikhs 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Mohammed El Fizazi, along with Hassan 
Kettani, Abdelwahab Rafiki (aka Abu Hafs), 
Abdelkarim Chadli (aka Abu Obeida), and Miloud 
Haddouchi, form the intellectual leadership of 
Salafist ideology in Morocco.  The Moroccan press 
commonly refers to Fizazi and these other Sheikhs as 
the leaders of the Salafiyya-Jihaddiyya Group. 
However, Salafiyya-Jihaddiyya does not in fact exist 
as an organization, but is more aptly a term to 
describe a loose grouping of radicalized Salafists 
ideas and the disparate Sheikhs and their followers 
who adhere to them.  All five of these Sheikhs were 
tried and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 20 
to 30 years for their alleged role as the ideologues 
for, or alleged affiliation with, participants in 
the Casablanca bombings of 2003. 
 
¶3. (C) Mohammed Darif, a renowned expert on Islamic 
movements in Morocco, told poloff that Fizazi has 
never openly advocated violence in Morocco or 
attempted to challenge the legitimacy of King 
Mohammed VI and his role as Morocco's religious 
leader.  During his trial in 2003, Fizazi condemned 
the Casablanca suicide bombers, "whatever their 
motivation," and denied that his preaching could 
have persuaded youth to engage in terrorism.  He 
also affirmed the king's role as "Commander of the 
Faithful" and argued that only the king has the 
authority to order a jihad against the enemies of 
Morocco such as "the POLISARIO or Spain."  He denied 
the existence of Salaffiya-Jihaddiya, as described 
in the indictment, arguing that if such an 
organization existed, it, like the political 
parties, would only serve to divide the Ulema 
(Islamic community). 
 
Dialogue with the Sheikhs 
------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The Moroccan press has repeatedly reported on 
the existence of a dialogue between Salafist 
prisoners and the Moroccan authorities (REF B). 
Separate hunger strikes by the prisoners in the 
summer of 2007 and in December of 2009 resulted in 
conversations with authorities and GOM concessions 
that improved somewhat their prison conditions and 
visitation rights.  Individual Salafists have also 
applied for and received pardons, though none since 
in 2005.  At the end of 2009 a group of prisoners at 
the Okacha prison in Casablanca sent a public letter 
to the king proclaiming their innocence, addressing 
the king as the "Commander of the Faithful," and 
requesting a committee to study their situation. 
 
¶5. (C) In responding to questions from the 
Parliament in May 2009 about pardons for Islamists 
prisoners, then-Minister of Interior Chakib 
Benmoussa denied that there was any GOM dialogue 
 
with the Salafists.  He reiterated the only way for 
these prisoners to be considered for a royal pardon 
was for them to demonstrate remorse, change their 
thinking, and apply for a royal pardon.  Fizazi and 
others have maintained their innocence and so far 
refused to request a pardon which typically includes 
an admission of guilt. 
 
¶6. (C) Darif, who is familiar with the published 
works and speeches of Fizazi, believes the GOM, and 
not Salafists in Europe, was the intended audience 
of the letter sent by Fizazi to his daughter in 
Germany in hopes of indirectly winning a royal 
pardon.  Fizazi also notably wrote a public letter, 
while in prison, to Abu Musab Al Zarqawi of Al Qaida 
in Mesopotamia asking for the release of two 
Moroccan embassy employees who had been kidnapped 
and pleading for their lives. 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT: We believe the GOM has engaged 
Fizazi and other Salafist Sheikhs in an attempt to 
persuade them to reconsider their radical views. 
However, the GOM is in a position of relative 
strength vis-a-vis the extremists and does not have 
much incentive to offer concessions to them.  The 
GOM's security services have proven effective in 
disrupting potential terrorist cells in Morocco. 
Finally, since there is no organizational structure 
behind the Salafist Sheikhs, having a dialogue 
ultimately means negotiating with each individual 
Sheikh.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶8. (S/NF) Response to reftel A inquiries: 
 
¶A. We have no information as to what may have 
prompted this letter.  However, we find plausible 
the opinion of Darif that it was likely an attempt 
to curry favor with the Moroccan authorities.  It is 
also noteworthy that the letter discusses a Muslim's 
obligation to his country of immigration in Europe 
but avoids touching on the legitimacy of jihad in 
"Muslim occupied lands." 
 
¶B. We have no prior indications that Fizazi is 
moving to change his positions. 
 
¶C. We have no information on whether the GOM had any 
influence on Fizazi's letter.  We believe that if 
Fizazi had written the letter at the behest of the 
GOM, the letter would have been more actively 
promoted here in Morocco.  There is also, as of yet, 
no indication that Fizazi has had his sentenced 
reduced or will be pardoned. 
 
¶D. We have no information on the extent of German 
law enforcement's participation in his recantation. 
 
¶E. We are not aware of what if any outside 
influences may have been brought to bear on Fizazi. 
Among the intellectual leaders of Salafiyya- 
Jihaddiya in Morocco, Fizazi stands as probably the 
oldest and most widely respected of the figures. 
Fizazi is reported to have been a one time student 
of Mohammed Bin Abderahman Al Meghrawi who is 
currently living in self-imposed exile in Saudi 
Arabia following the closure of his Islamic schools 
and organization for issuing a controversial fatwa 
(REF C). 
 
¶F. Fizazi is believed to retain have a following 
principally in Tangier where he served as an imam 
for more than 30 years.  He remains an influential 
voice among Salafists in Europe and prior to his 
imprisonment travelled extensively as a visiting 
imam inside of Morocco and in Europe.  He is 
currently serving his 30 year sentence at a prison 
in Tangier. 
 
¶G. We are not aware of any response by Moroccan 
radicals to Fizazi's letter. 
 
BIO NOTE 
-------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Mohammed El Fizaz (aka Abu Meriyam) was 
born in 1949 in Mernissa, a village in the Province 
 
of Taza.  He attended the local Quranic school in 
the village and completed his primary and 
baccalaureate studies in the city of Taza.  In 1968 
he moved to Rabat to study at the teacher training 
institute where he received a teaching certificate. 
In 1971, at the age of 21, he moved to Tangier where 
he began work in public schools as a teacher of 
French and mathematics.  He started preaching at a 
small mosque in Casa Barat neighborhood of Tangier 
in 1976.  He reportedly only became radicalized 
later during his studies in Fes and with Mohammed 
bin Abdelrahman Al Meghrawi who represented the 
Saudi-influenced ideas of Salafism.  Sometime in the 
late 1970s he began his studies of Sharia and Fiqh 
at the Faculty of Sharia Science in Fes.  He 
eventually completed a Masters in Science of the 
Hadith at the end of the 1980s.  It was also during 
the 1980s that he was appointed the imam of the Al 
Mohades Mosque in Tangier. 
 
¶10. (SBU) As Fizazi popularity increased in the 
1990s he formed the association Ahl Al Sunna wa Al 
Jamaa (People of the Sunna and the Community) for 
the propagation of Salafist ideas.  Fizazi became 
more radicalized in the late 1990s and publicly 
attacked Abdessalam Yassine and his Islamic movement 
Al Adl wa Al Ihsan, Morocco's largest Islamic 
movement, for its Sufi influences and failure to 
follow the Salafist interpretation of Islam.  Fizazi 
appeared as a guest speaker at mosques throughout 
Europe, notably in Hamburg, Germany, as well as in 
various Moroccan cities. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In August Of 2003 Fizazi was put on trial 
alongside Hadouchi and others for his alleged role 
in inspiring the Casablanca bombings.  He was found 
guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison.  During 
the trial Fizazi denied any involvement in the 
bombings but did acknowledge that some of those 
involved in the attackers had attended his preaching 
sessions, which he stressed were held publicly and 
with the knowledge of the state.  Fizazi also 
acknowledged that he had a relationship with 
Mohammed Damir but stressed that he broke with him 
once he learned that he had been involved in acts of 
violence. (NOTE: Damir was a member of the radical 
Islamist group "Assirat al Moustakim" (the Straight 
Path) which was led by Youssef Fikri and responsible 
for at least six murders.  Both Fikri and Damir were 
sentenced to death in July 2003.  END NOTE) 
 
¶12. (U) This message has been coordinated with 
Embassy Rabat.