Morocco

SALE, Morocco (AP) — As a combatant for the Islamic State group who left his native Morocco to join what he felt was a holy fight in Syria, Mohsin says he saw all the horrors of war. “A terrifying experience,” he says.

Now a prisoner, the 38-year-old claims he is no longer the fanatic he was then, enraged with a murderous hatred for non-Muslims. Captured in Turkey and extradited to Morocco, he is serving a 10-year prison term on terrorism charges.

29 April 2022; MEMO: The General Arab Conference "United Against Normalisation" of Morocco yesterday called to end normalisation deals with Israel.

The conference stressed, in a statement on International Quds Day, that "resisting normalisation and boycotting the [Israeli] enemy is the task of the honourable people of the nation and the free people of the world."

26 April 2022; MEMO: A huge oil field has been discovered off the coast of Morocco by British company Europa Oil & Gas, Spain's Motorpasion website has reported. The reserves in the field are valued at billions of dollars.

"The discovery is a treasure," said the website. "Its value is put at about €110 billion, which is roughly equivalent to Morocco's GDP in 2020, when it amounted to $112 billion."

06 April 2022; MEMO: The Central Bank of Morocco, the Foreign Exchange Authority and the Capital Market Authority have called on Moroccans to comply with laws that prohibit the use of cryptocurrency.

The regulators said in a joint statement issued yesterday that "despite previous warnings regarding the risks associated with the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, it has been observed that some continue to use this type of operation."

05 April 2022; MEMO: The Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) has revealed that it is planning to bring 200,000 Israeli tourists to Morocco on direct flights from Tel Aviv in 2022, Sama news agency reported yesterday.

Quoting i24, Sama said the number of direct flights between the two countries will rise to eight per week.

02 April 2022; MEMO: The Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has called on university heads to participate in a panel discussion organised by an Israeli university, as reported on Friday.

The session is to be organised by the International Centre for Israeli Diplomacy at Reichman University in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.

RABAT, March 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to assure Gulf monarchies on Tuesday that Washington is determined to help them fend off attacks from the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen.

Blinken met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, in Morocco as part of a trip to the Middle East and North Africa.

RABAT, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan navy has foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 12 tonnes of cannabis off the Atlantic coast of El Jadida, the military said Tuesday.

The operation on Monday led to the arrest of six smugglers, including three Spanish citizens, according to a statement by the Moroccan Armed Forces.

The smuggling operation was foiled after a maritime surveillance plane spotted artisanal fishing boats suspected of illicit trafficking transferring their cargos onto three other boats offshore, according to the statement.

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Morocco on Tuesday to discuss recent shifts in the diplomatic dynamic in the Middle East and North Africa that could upend some of the region’s long-standing disputes.

A day after an unprecedented gathering in Israel’s Negev Desert with the Israeli foreign minister and their counterparts from four Arab nations that have normalized relations with Israel, Blinken held talks with senior Moroccan officials to look at opportunities for expanding those ties.

26 March 2022; MEMO: During an official visit of a senior Israeli military delegation, Morocco and Israel have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on military cooperation, the Israeli army's spokesperson Avichay Adraee tweeted on Friday.