September 2006 Archives
The Morocco Times reports that Moroccan students in Canada and the United States have established a new foundation to provide aid to Morocco and leadership training to students.
Hearings for Moroccan Suspects Postponed - New York Times
RABAT, Morocco (AP) -- Hearings for the 56 people rounded up in a recent anti-terror sweep in Morocco scheduled for this week have been postponed to an unspecified date, judicial officials said Tuesday.
The indefinite postponement of hearings for 56 terror suspects arrested in Morocco raises questions about whether the rights of the suspects are being respected.
New York : High Atlas Foundation to hold special reception :: moroccoTimes.com
The High Atlas Foundation will be raising funds to plant trees in Morocco, reports the Morocco Times:
The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) will hold a special reception on Sept. 21 at the Urban Center, New York Palace Hotel, in support of HAF's new initiative to plant one million fruit trees in communities throughout rural Morocco.
Morocco Jails Two for Disrupting U.S. Computers - New York Times
The New York Times reports that Morocco has jailed two hackers for unleashing worms on the United States:
RABAT ( Reuters) - A Moroccan court on Tuesday jailed two men for one and two years for unleashing computer worms that disrupted networks across the United States, court officials and lawyers said.
My question is, does this say something positive about the current level of technical and scientific education in Morrocco? Arguably only a society that is truly computer literate produces hackers.
A very attractive set of photos from Morocco is posted at Murmures..
Liosliath points to the Morocco FAQ. Well worth a vist.
Official visits : Putin arrives in Casablanca :: moroccoTimes.com
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin pays an official visit to Morocco. Putin's visit is the first by a Russian head of state.
In case you wondering whether the Disnification of Marrakesh is complete, the New York Times reports that Club Med has opened an exclusive high-end resort, "Le Riad," within the city walls:
MARRAKESH, Morocco — Beside a huge wooden door crossed with bolts stand two somber men in the flowing white Moroccan robes ordinarily reserved for traditional weddings.They are the princely guardians of Le Riad, a walled compound at Club Med’s La Palmeraie resort, where first-class suites are sprinkled daily with fresh rose petals and solicitous spa attendants are on call nearby at a jasmine-scented pool to offer bubbling papaya baths.
A New Record For Africans Risking Boat Route to Europe
From the AP via the Washington Post:
With routes through Morocco being gradually sealed, the rising wave of African migration to Europe has been pushed hundreds of miles south, forcing many to make a perilous voyage in open boats to Spain's Canary Islands, their gateway to the prosperous European Union.
THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Moroccan elections - 667 candidates for 90 seats
The View from Fez has a primer on the Moroccan electoral system and the coming elections for the Chamber of Advisors.
Moroccan Terror Plot Foiled With 56 Arrests, Officials Say - New York Times
PARIS, Sept. 1 — The Moroccan police have arrested 56 suspected members of a terrorist network as part of a monthlong antiterror sweep, the country’s official news agency reported on Thursday.
Music : Haj Youness, persona non grata in US :: moroccoTimes.com
The Kennedy Center concert by Moroccan lutist Haj Youness has been cancelled because, for reasons that are not completely clear, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has denied him entry to the United States. The Morocco Times comments:
It seems that the US sees everybody as terrorists! The famous Moroccan lutist, Haj Youness, was refused a visa to the US, mainly because of his name, reported the Moroccan daily L'Economiste.
For more, see The View from Fez.
Naguib Mahfouz: An Appreciation
Laila Lalami laments the death of one of the Arab world's great writers in this appreciation in the Nation:
With the death of Mahfouz, Egypt has been deprived of its greatest living writer and of its last icon of the twentieth century, and the world has lost one of its most humane literary figures.
Particularly interesting is Lalami's discussion of Mahfouz's interest in both Pharaonic and Islamic Egypt in his works, and his complicated politics in his life.
