Good for King Mohammed. He really is trying hard to keep the radicals at bay in his own country.
MOROCCO COUNTERRADICALIZATION STRATEGY BEARS FRUITS‏ OPED
MARCH 31, 2014
By Said Temsamani
Every Friday, King Mohammed VI, in his capacity as Commander of the Faithful, performs Friday prayers in one of the mosques around the country. Today, the event was exceptional and very symbolic. In fact, the King, currently in Tangier, attended the Friday prayers at Tarik Ibn Ziyad mosque in the presence of a controversial preacher Mohammed Fizazi who delivered the Friday sermon. Fizazi, a former jihadist theoretician who was arrested two weeks after the Casablanca attacks in 2003, the day a controversial interview in the Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat was published, in the tense atmosphere surrounding the attacks, and was later sentenced to 30 years in prison. In 2011, he benefited from a Royal pardon and was released after he had distanced himself from all extremist doctrines.
Todays event is the result of an ongoing religious reform that was initiated by the King since 2004. The Moroccan sovereign endorsed a new approach to promote a moderate, open and tolerant form of Islam which, according to many political observers, has proved to be very successful in countering religious extremism and Al Qaedas influence in the region. Morocco then emerged as a beacon in the Arab world in terms of countering extremist ideology and promoting tolerance, respect and dialogue among religious groups. The main goal of the religious reforms that Morocco has pursued since 2004 has been to safeguard the country against extremism and backward thinking.
Continue reading at:
Morocco Counterradicalization Strategy Bears Fruits? ? OpEd | Eurasia Review
MOROCCO COUNTERRADICALIZATION STRATEGY BEARS FRUITS‏ OPED
MARCH 31, 2014
By Said Temsamani
Every Friday, King Mohammed VI, in his capacity as Commander of the Faithful, performs Friday prayers in one of the mosques around the country. Today, the event was exceptional and very symbolic. In fact, the King, currently in Tangier, attended the Friday prayers at Tarik Ibn Ziyad mosque in the presence of a controversial preacher Mohammed Fizazi who delivered the Friday sermon. Fizazi, a former jihadist theoretician who was arrested two weeks after the Casablanca attacks in 2003, the day a controversial interview in the Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat was published, in the tense atmosphere surrounding the attacks, and was later sentenced to 30 years in prison. In 2011, he benefited from a Royal pardon and was released after he had distanced himself from all extremist doctrines.
Todays event is the result of an ongoing religious reform that was initiated by the King since 2004. The Moroccan sovereign endorsed a new approach to promote a moderate, open and tolerant form of Islam which, according to many political observers, has proved to be very successful in countering religious extremism and Al Qaedas influence in the region. Morocco then emerged as a beacon in the Arab world in terms of countering extremist ideology and promoting tolerance, respect and dialogue among religious groups. The main goal of the religious reforms that Morocco has pursued since 2004 has been to safeguard the country against extremism and backward thinking.
Continue reading at:
Morocco Counterradicalization Strategy Bears Fruits? ? OpEd | Eurasia Review
