By Hassan Benmehdi in Casablanca
for Magharebia
Morocco multi-pronged approach to security includes new laws, regional co-operation efforts and attention to religious tolerance.
As Morocco toughens its counter-terrorism laws, government figures and civil society representatives are raising the alarm about the threat from Islamic State ideologies.
The fight against terrorism must be global, Security and Economic Intelligence Office chief Hassane Saoudi told a Casablanca forum on Wednesday (January 21st).
“An approach based on security alone is not enough, which is why it is important to simultaneously adopt a human approach involving poverty reduction,” he said.
The president of the Moroccan Institute for International Relations, Jaouad Kerdoudi, also called for the root causes of jihadism to be addressed, “namely the Iraq-Syria crisis”.
He stressed the need to “foster a climate of understanding between the three monotheistic religions and between communities living in the same country”.
“In addition to a security-based approach, religion is another guarantee against all excesses that encourage violence and hatred,” agreed Moussa El Mouritani, a journalist who specialises in Islamist movements.
Regional co-operation and border security can also “limit the mobility of Daesh terrorists”, he told Magharebia on the sidelines of the forum.
Also last Wednesday, the Moroccan parliament amended the counter-terrorism law to impose tougher punishments.
Moroccans who try to fight abroad, as well as those who recruit jihadists, will face prison sentences of five to 15 years.
Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid said: “Morocco is not safe from terrorism”. Some 1,212 people had traveled from Morocco to join terrorist groups, he said.
Opposition MP Ahmed Thami noted that it was time to “strengthen global co-operation in order to curb terrorism and eliminate all forms of fundamentalism”.
The law comes at a time when countries all over the world are calling for greater co-operation to tackle Daesh and other terror groups.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Garcia-Margallo has highlighted the importance of global co-operation to combat jihadism.
“In the face of the jihadist threat, a military victory is essential… Dialogue is impossible with movements that aspire only to exterminate their enemies,” he said in Madrid on January 20th.
This view was shared by the UN’s deputy special representative for stabilisation in Mali, David Gressly. He underlined while speaking in Rabat on Thursday that meetings must continue to be held to examine the terrorist threat.
Defeating terrorism is a “goal common to us all”, Moroccan Minister-Delegate Charki Draiss said.
