Morocco 'Facebook prince' pardon

A Moroccan man jailed for pretending to be the brother of the king on the social networking site Facebook has been given a royal pardon.

Fouad Mourtada's lawyer said his client had left the Casablanca jail where he was serving his three-year sentence.

He had been arrested at the beginning of February for "usurping the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid".

Mr Mourtada had insisted his internet entry was a bit of fun, and a campaign was launched in his support.

Mr Mortada's brother Ilyas told the BBC that Fouad was in good health, and was delighted to be free.

His lawyer said Mr Mourtada was still trying to come to terms with what had happened to him.

Religious holiday

His release has delighted Moroccan human rights organisation, international pressure groups and internet users around the world who had campaigned for his release.

The king granted the pardon just before the anniversary of the birth of the prophet Mohammed, a public holiday in Morocco, and a date on which pardons are often announced.

But the BBC's James Copnall in Rabat says the case shows that the royal family remains a taboo subject in Morocco.

He says Moroccan journalists and others have learnt that harsh words about the king, or Islam, or Morocco itself, can lead to trouble.

The journalist and editor Ahmed Benchemsi faces up to five years in jail over an article he wrote about a speech made by King Mohammed VI.

His trial has been adjourned until September.

The Islamist leader Nadia Yassine is also facing trial for saying she is in favour of Morocco becoming a republic.

Untouchable

The Moroccan establishment is keen to stress the progress it has made in opening up the country, particularly since Mohammed VI came to the throne nearly 10 years ago.

Under his father, Hassan II, Morocco had an appalling human rights record.

Political opponents and human rights activists, among many others, faced terrible conditions in Moroccan jails, often merely for objecting out loud.

But while most people agree society is more open now, Moroccans know the king and the royal family remain almost untouchable.

King Mohammed VI is regarded as a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, and to question his authority is seen as a challenge to his religious role as the Commander of the Faithful.

America poising Americains

Michigan chemtrails by Timothy Borgman On January 15 and 18 of 2008, four white unmarked 747s repeatedly laid down criss-cross pattern chemtrails over the city of Battle Creek, Michigan for nearly 5 hours This was my and my roommate's first direct encounter with this strange phenomenon। Although we had seen footage of it on the Internet many times it still somehow left us in amazement and awe that the government could orchestrate such a vast program such as this in plain sight and yet continue to deny its involvement। The purpose of this program cannot be good if the government wishes to deny its culpability on this subject. Are we slowly being poisoned in order to decrease the size of the population? Whatever it is, it is definitely a reality! The contrail explanation just doesn't hold water. As my roommate and I witnessed this scene in the parking lot of a local supermarket we also noticed that other people around us going into the store could have cared less. This is disturbing in itself for many reasons...but most notable is the lack in curiosity or interest in something so strange as these big planes creating criss-cross patterns in the air and not following direct plane routes. Where were these planes coming from? Who is piloting them? Why are they unmarked? Since this event, we witnessed it again a few days later...and again no one seemed to take notice. Research that I have conducted since that time seems to point to Lockheed Martin as having a hand in these operations to some degree. The Department Of Defense is at the center of it, and it appears to be a weather modification experiment in order to mitigate the effects of global warming.

2007 Casablanca bombings: three minors get up to 15 years in prison

Salé (Rabat-twin city), Mar.10 - The first instance court of Salé on Monday handed down prison sentences ranging between ten and fifteen years against three minors involved in March and April 2007 bombings in Casablanca. The court sentenced, in a closed hearing, Youssef Khoudri to fifteen years in jail, while Othman Raydi and Abdelhali Raibi got ten years' prison term each. The defendants were sued on charges of "setting up a criminal gang with the aim of preparing and carrying out terrorist acts, part of a collective project to undermine the public order", "participating in making explosives", "holding non-authorized public meetings", "carrying out activities within an unauthorized association", and "fundraising to finance terrorist acts". The events date back to March 11 when Abdelfettah Raydi, older brother of Youssef, blew himself up in a cyber café in the neighborhood of Sidi Moumen in Morocco's economic city, Casablanca. On April 10, Ayoub Raydi detonated his charge in the neighborhood of El Farah in the same city. March and April bombings left seven people dead: five terrorists who blew themselves up, another one who was shot dead by the police as well as a policeman, and more than 20 other people were injured. These bombings occurred four years after 12 suicide-bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca (May 16, 2003), killing 33 other people.

Six Arab states join rush to go nuclear

The move, which follows the failure by the West to curb Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, could see a rapid spread of nuclear reactors in one of the world’s most unstable regions, stretching from the Gulf to the Levant and into North Africa. The countries involved were named by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. Tunisia and the UAE have also shown interest. All want to build civilian nuclear energy programmes, as they are permitted to under international law. But the sudden rush to nuclear power has raised suspicions that the real intention is to acquire nuclear technology which could be used for the first Arab atomic bomb. “Some Middle East states, including Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, have shown initial interest [in using] nuclear power primarily for desalination purposes,” Tomihiro Taniguch, the deputy director-general of the IAEA, told the business weekly Middle East Economic Digest. He said that they had held preliminary discussions with the governments and that the IAEA’s technical advisory programme would be offered to them to help with studies into creating power plants. Mark Fitzpatrick, an expert on nuclear proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that it was clear that the sudden drive for nuclear expertise was to provide the Arabs with a “security hedge”. “If Iran was not on the path to a nuclear weapons capability you would probably not see this sudden rush [in the Arab world],” he said. The announcement by the six nations is a stunning reversal of policy in the Arab world, which had until recently been pressing for a nuclear free Middle East, where only Israel has nuclear weapons. Egypt and other North African states can argue with some justification that they need cheap, safe energy for their expanding economies and growing populations at a time of high oil prices. The case will be much harder for Saudi Arabia, which sits on the world’s largest oil reserves. Earlier this year Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, told The Times that his country opposed the spread of nuclear power and weapons in the Arab world. Since then, however, the Iranians have accelerated their nuclear power and enrichment programmes.

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