Morocco drops proceedings against Spanish activist Helena Maleno

The Tangier court has abandoned proceedings against Spanish activist Helena Maleno, who had been accused of having alleged links with people traffickers, report Spanish daily El Mundo.    «The Moroccan court has stated that there is no evidence against Maleno», Walking Borders’s spokesperson, who is Helena Maleno herself, said in a statement. Soy Helena Maleno, defensora de Derechos Humanos, y... ¡la justicia marroquí ha archivado la causa penal

After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, RAM grounds Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane

Royal Air Maroc (RAM), the Moroccan national carrier, announced, Monday, that it has suspended the use of Boeing's new 737 MAX 8 aircraft, following the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people. The decision was taken to «start aircraft maintenance», RAM CEO Abdelhamid Addou told French-language online newspaper HuffPost Maroc. Aircraft manufacturing company Boeing delivered Morocco’s first Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane on December the 22nd, 2018. The latter has been

Morocco and Algeria are the largest arms importers in Africa, according to SIPRI

According to data made public by SIPRI’s 2018 Trends in International Arms Transfers, Morocco and Algeria are the largest arms importers in Africa. The USA and France were the main suppliers of arms to the Kingdom in 2014–18.

Western Sahara : The second round-table to take place on March the 21st and 22nd in Geneva

After the UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric announced last week that the second Western Sahara round-table will take place in the second half of March, reports suggested that the meeting will be held on the 21st and 22nd of the same month in Geneva. Quoting sources close to the file, the Algerian press agency (APS) reported that the four parties will be invited to take part in the meeting for two days. «The parties in question have not been summoned

The two Moroccans killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash were attending an UN panel

Two Moroccan nationals died in the terrible Ethiopian Airlines crash, that took the lives of 157 people Sunday morning, reports Ethiopian press agency ENA. The two victims are Moroccan officials who were traveling to Nairobi to attend a major environmental conference backed by the UN, reports French-language newspaper Le360. One of them is Ahmed Ben Chihabe, 60, a senior member of the Department of Environment who held a position in the Draa-Tafilalet region, the same source said. The second

After two weeks of silence, diplomatic sources say Morocco met Horst Köhler in Paris

Morocco has finally broken its silence regarding a meeting that took place in February in Paris. The Kingdom’s diplomacy ended up admitting, implicitly, that a meeting between its representatives and the UN personal envoy to Western Sahara Horst Köhler has taken place. The Paris meeting «is part of the consultations maintained between Morocco and the United Nations to reach a final political solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara», said Sunday, March

The US commends Morocco for repatriating its citizens from conflict zones in Syria

In a press release made public, Sunday, the US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino commended Morocco for «repatriating eight Moroccan foreign terrorist fighters from Syria». The official hailed the decision revealed by the Kingdom on the same day, adding that «Morocco is a highly capable partner in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and we appreciate its commitment to countering terrorism». The latter stressed that Morocco’s actions must push

Two Moroccan nationals killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash

Two Moroccan nationals died after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed, Sunday morning, reports Ethiopian news agency ENA. The tragic crash killed 149 passengers and eight crew members who were on flight ET302 that was heading from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya. The flight crashed 6 minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa near Bishoftu, located 60 km away from the capital, the same source said quoting the Prime Minister’s office. According to the same source, two emergency

Spain : Four Moroccan nationals hidden aboard a lorry arrested

Ceuta police intercepted four Moroccans, who were hidden in a truck headed for Spain, reports on Friday local website Ceuta Actualidad. The four people had been hiding in the vehicle for more than three days, the same source adds. One of them was arrested for the fourth time in similar circumstances. Arrested on Friday afternoon, the four migrants were immediately returned to Morocco, for breaking Spanish immigration laws, the news website says.

Brussels : Pro-halal slaughter demonstration by Belgian Muslims

In the Belgian capital, about 150 Muslims demonstrated Saturday afternoon to defend the halal ritual slaughter, Sud Info reports. The demonstrations took place at around 3 p.m in front of the Courthouse of Brussels, to ask to be able to continue practicing the ritual slaughter, chanting the slogan «we are Muslims, we want to eat halal», the same source said. For the record, the law prohibiting ritual slaughters, in particular the ones carried out according to Jewish and Muslim