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Since his arrest last week in Dubai, the extradition of alleged «Angels of Death» boss Ridouan Taghi has made headlines in both Morocco, his home country, and the Netherlands where he is wanted for his alleged relation to 30 murders.
Two days after his arrest, Taghi was extradited to the Netherlands, where he is facing trial. But will Morocco ask for the alleged criminal, who is suspected for being the mastermind behind the 2017 Café la Crème shooting?
To Emirati media, the Ridouan Taghi case has reportedly led to a diplomatic crisis between Morocco and the Netherlands. Sunday, Sharjah-based daily Gulf Today wrote that the «crisis» between the two countries «erupted although there is a UN organized crime control agreement» between them.
Quoting Moroccan sources, the daily reported that «Morocco will pressure the Netherlands for extradition of outlaw Said Chaou (…) in return for allowing Amsterdam to get Taghi».
Said Chaou and the extradition of Taghi
Indeed, the extradition of Ridouan Taghi seems to be another chapter, highlighting tensions between Rabat and The Hague. And as aforementioned, this crisis has started after the arrest of former parliament member Chaou, who is accused of heading a criminal network, and getting involved in international drug trafficking.
This was confirmed by Dutch former attaché at the Netherlands’ embassy in Rabat Jan Hoogland. The latter stressed that tensions between the two countries «have already existed because of Said Chaou». «Morocco wanted the Netherlands to extradite him but a Dutch judge did not allow that», he recalled.
In October 2018, the Dutch Supreme court ruled that Chaou «might not benefit from a fair trial» in the Kingdom, indicating that his co-defendants were «tortured and treated in an inhuman manner that they had to say things that were used as evidence against» him.
To Hoogland, even though Morocco wants Taghi to «stand trial in his home country, his extradition to the country would have prevented the Netherlands from getting him again», as the two countries do not have an extradition agreement.
An ongoing diplomatic crisis
But according to the retired university professor, there is more to the crisis between the two countries than the Taghi and Chaou files. «It all started when the Netherlands wanted to change the treaty on social security a couple of years ago», Hoogland told Yabiladi, referring to a deal on the amount of social security paid to Dutch Moroccan families living in Morocco.
The cold diplomatic ties between Rabat and The Hague can also be blamed on the situation of irregular Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands and their deportation.
In November, Dutch State Secretary for Security and Justice Ankie Broekers-Knol told media that Morocco had refused to receive her. «She wanted to discuss the repatriation of Moroccans whose asylum requests were rejected by the Netherlands», Dutch media said.
Earlier in December, another meeting, this time between the Kingdom’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Abdelwahab El Bellouki and Broekers-Knol was postponed sine die.
Commenting on this, Jan Hoogland said that there is «a communication problem between the Dutch Embassy in Rabat and the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs». Furthermore, he acknowledges that Ankie Broekers-Knol «did not do things the right way», when trying to meet Moroccan officials. But at the bottom of the problem, the issue of irregular migrants contrasts with that of the desire to extradite suspected criminals.
«The issue of Morocco refusing to accept Moroccan irregular migrants is a question that has been going for many years. However, people in the Netherlands don’t understand that Morocco refuses these migrants but wants Chaou and Taghi back», Hoogland concluded.
