January 2006 Archives

Al Qaeda Detainee's Mysterious Release

During the battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, when al Qaeda leaders were pinned down by U.S. forces, Tabarak sacrificed himself to engineer their escape. He headed toward the Pakistani border while making calls on Osama bin Laden's satellite phone as bin Laden and the others fled in the other direction.

Abdallah Tabarak, an al Qaeda member captured as he fled Afghanistan, was freed from U.S. detention at Guantanamo in August 2004. He still faces minor charges in Morocco.
Abdallah Tabarak, an al Qaeda member captured as he fled Afghanistan, was freed from U.S. detention at Guantanamo in August 2004. He still faces minor charges in Morocco. (By Karim Selmaoui -- Le Journal Hebdomadaire)

Tabarak was captured and taken to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was classified as such a high-value prisoner that the Pentagon repeatedly denied requests by the International Committee of the Red Cross to see him. Then, after spending almost three years at the base, he was suddenly released.

Today, the al Qaeda loyalist known locally as the "emir" of Guantanamo walks the streets of his old neighborhood near Casablanca, more or less a free man.

Guy Gavriel Kay's evokes the last days of Al Andalus in a historical novel disguised as a fantasy. Without making any claims to historical accuracy, Kay nevertheless vividly reimagines the refined Al Andalus (Al Rassan) crushed between the Spanish zealots to the North and the North African zealots to the South. Not a book to slake a thirst for knowledge about Al Andalus, but perhaps a book to awaken one.

Good to see that Morocco Time is back up after a hard disk crash.

Eid El Kbeer (Eid El Adha) marks the high point of the Muslim year with the commemoration of Abraham's near sacrifice of Ishmael before God intervened and commended him to sacrifice a ram instead. (Yes, I am aware that the Biblical version is slightly different.) In commemoration of the event, Muslims throughout the world sacrifice a sheep on this day.

To all my Muslim and Moroccan friends, happy Feast of the Sacrifice!

Wafin.com has selected Kamal Essalhi a.k.a. DJ Kimo as its Moroccan of the month. One interesting observation in Essalhi's write up is that it was unusual for his parents to encourage him to become a musician, a choice of career most middle class Moroccan families would frown upon. Essalhi's website, http://www.djkimo.com, has links to an interesting page on Moroccan music and a video of one of his performances.

THE VIEW FROM FÈS: Moroccan News Briefs

The View from Fes reports that the Moroccan Ministry of Justice has created a "follow up" unit to monitor the press in the country.

Tel Quel magazine's appeal of a libel fine was rejected by the Casablanca Court of Appeals, but the 1 million DH fine was slightly reduced to 800,000 DH. It would appear that the provocative magazine's future is still open to question.

Due East of Augusta has reflections on a year spent in Morocco, followed by pictures.