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Targeting root causes of extremism in Morocco

Global Arab Network - - Adam Turner

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:24

After 9/11 and the 2003 Casablanca bombing, Morocco began to rethink its counterterrorism approach. Not only were they facing threats from within, but as a key ally to the United States in the war against Al Qaeda, external threats also became a very real concern.

Parallel to furthering its cooperation with other states in the region through the exchange of information, a new social policy was developed by the Moroccan government to target the factors–living conditions, despair and religious influences–that were propelling high-risk youth toward extremist ideologies,

As part of a new ambitious long-term National Human Development Initiative (INDH), launched by King Mohammed VI in 2005 to improve the conditions of poor and vulnerable groups in Morocco, there has been a focus on improving the economy and infrastructure in Morocco. Distribution of water and electricity, the development of schools and the improvement of slums like Sidi Moumen, from where the Casablanca bombers came, have been priorities for the government.

Another government-funded effort to help youth build confidence and succeed socially and economically is Mukawalaty, a project that began in 2006 and provides youth with the professional training and loans necessary to become small business owners. Since 2006, 1,114 projects have been approved, with recent state university graduates being the primary recipients.

Additionally, since some young people are indoctrinated in mosques by sheikhs with narrow and hateful interpretations of the Qur'an, a new policy, “The Reformation of the Religious Field”, was crafted in 2004 to educate new imams and spiritual guides, some of whom work in the most at-risk communities in the country, and to provide them with a more mainstream religious and cultural framework.

Alongside this programme, which started in 2004, the Moroccan Ministry of Islamic Affairs has trained, qualified and certified about 520 imams and spiritual guides while enrolling them as government officials with a salary. They have been placed in up to 40,000 mosques throughout the country to provide religious counselling and other such services to Moroccans.

Since 2003, there have been no successful terrorist incidents in Morocco, which suggests that this multi-pronged policy has thus far helped the government to reduce popular support for extremists and prevent radicalism from spreading. Hopefully, with continued emphasis on the roots of terrorism, even the motivation for such attacks will cease to exist.

Global Arab Network

* Dr. Mohsine El Ahmadi is a visiting scholar at Georgetown University in Washington. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

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