Spain: Six Islamic countries are funding Islamism, National Center of Intelligence alerts

The document, sent by the head of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) to the foreign, interior and defense ministers on May 16, sounds the alarm on the financial aid provided by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Libya and, above all, Morocco to the 1.2 million Muslims living in Spain.

“The consequences of this financing result in negative attitudes for peaceful coexistence, such as the creation of ghettos and parallel societies, Islamic courts and police systems outside the law, girls being taken out of school, forced marriages and so on,” reads the CNI report, which has been accessed by EL PAÍS. “There is not enough control over the financial flows represented by donations and aid from other countries to Spain’s Islamic community,” the report continues. “It becomes necessary for the donor countries to be fully aware of the risks entailed by financing individual requests.”

The Spanish government wants oil monarchies such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia to only fund projects that have been first submitted to the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE), the official mediator, for approval. In the mid-term, however, Spain wants to end foreign intromission.

“The right to and the management of Spaniards’ religious freedom, no matter what their faith, cannot be dependent on any foreign country,” read a joint report by the justice and interior ministries in 2009.

More:

“The consequences of this funding consists mainly in negative attitudes for coexistence, such as the emergence of parallel societies and ghettos, Islamic courts and police outside the current legislation, lack of schooling of girls, forced marriages, etc.,” the CNI’s report said.

From the Gult, a flood of pamphlets arrive that irritate the Spanish authorities. “Today’s Europe is still considering that the white race is superior,” notes a paper published in Castilian by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Qatar under the title “Muhammad. The Ideal Prophet”. “Europe, with all its pretensions to enlighten and lead (…) is still behind Islam,” it continues (…). Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has also shown, when he still had the means, predilection for the Spanish converts grouped in the Islamic Council of Spain (ICS). He established a “personal relationship”, according to the CNI, with ICS’ president, a psychiatrist based in Cordoba Francisco Jose Escudero, who adopted the Arabic name of Mansour, who died last October, .

The Secret Service also notes in its report some specific financial operations, such as the 300,000€ paid by Qatar to remodel the Catalan Islamic Cultural Center, but it does not provide overall figures. “For the most part, they are using alternative channels to bring these donations beyond the control of the regular Spanish financial system,” he says.

Needless to say, the more generous of all is Saudi Arabia, by direct donations to the royal family, others made by its Embassy in Madrid and a host of charities more or less official. The string of mosques and centers which receive its aid recipients “are not characterized by its high level of radicalism,” according to the CNI, although their “submission” to the Saudis is complete.

via El CNI alerta de que seis países musulmanes financian al islamismo – Nuevo Digital Internacional.

Spain: Zapatero wants Morocco and Turkey in the EU as a “gesture of conciliation with the Islamic world”

You know, the only problem Spain has nowadays is, of course, that Turkey and Morocco (an autocratic Monarchy in which the King is also the “Commander of the Believers…) aren’t members of the European Union. Absolutely appalling.

Image by Guillaume Paumier via Flickr

That the only casualties of the twin bombings of Norway are European origin and people outside the Islamic religion has not prevented the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, calling on EU leaders for Morocco and Turkey to be allowed entry into the European Union as a gesture of reconciliation with the Islamic world.

The Spanish Government’s President spoke about that support in phone calls to both to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Alawite ruler of Morocco (what do Erdogan and King Mohammed VI have to do with Norwegian murder? No Muslim was murdered, no Moroccan or Turkish citizen was murdered or hurt…), in which he reiterated his commitment to the alliance of civilizations as the only way possible for a north-south agreement. Zapatero argues that both Turkey and Morocco meet the requirements set by the EU to join their project.

Arab world: Poll show USA’s less popular under Obama

The attitude of the Arab world to the United States is much worse now with Obama than was with Bush at the end of his term. A survey by Zogby International for the Arab American Institute Foundation shows that there has been a great decline from the favorable attitude toward the United States between 2008 and 2011. In particular, the attitude towards the US has plummetted from 26 to 12 percent in Morocco, from 9 to 5 percent in Egypt, from 16 to 10 percent in Jordan and from 22 to 12 percent in UAE.

Nihil Obstat.

Translation by T&P.

Morocco: the new Constitution is not as good as it may seem

The new constitution “supports the human rights in all aspects, including a fair trial, no torture, no detention, no disappearance, and we need to guarantee the freedom of expression,” he said. The new constitution will also guarantee “freedom of religious worship.”

Foreign residents currently enjoy freedom of worship. Moroccan Christians, while not denied freedom of worship, “reportedly do not meet regularly due to fear of government surveillance and social persecution,” according to a US State Department report.

Yes, it guarantees freedom of religious worship, but not freedom of conscience: that is, if you are a Muslim, you won’t be able to change your religion.

But there is more: speaking about this constitution, the leader of the main opposition party (Islamist Justice and Development Party), said that:

“Morocco is a Muslim country whose state religion is Islam, and do not touch these fundamental principles. In Morocco, the freedom of worship is now guaranteed to Christians, Jews …, but not the freedom of conscience. A Muslim can not change his religion or even leave his practice in public, as happened last year when a handful of young men wanted to break the fast in a park in Mohammedia.

He also spoke about gays:

“We risk [with the new Constitution] to see people who publicly declare they are a sexual deviant,” was outraged. “The PJD reject this situation. Those who Fall in these sows should be hidden,” he said.

Related articles

• King declares Morocco a constitutional monarchy (msnbc.msn.com)
• Morocco reform offer ‘not enough’ (bbc.co.uk)

Spain: more information on the Fuengirola murder (ACT.)

I hope that the people who blog about this, literally COPYING the translation I have made will have the decency of, at least, linking this post:

The Gaze of Salvador Dali seems a macabre announcement of the tragedy that lies behind the door on which is printed. It’s the photo of the room 505 of the thematic hostelEl Cid, Fuengirola. The irregular lines confirm that police precinct has been the scene of a crime. S. E. C., a Swedish student who died 18 years beheaded. Her friend, whom she was on vacation with, was stabbed but managed to save.

One floor below is another precinct. Room 404, also palindromic. Beethoven. There he stayed until yesterday, a 30-year-old Moroccan named Abselam B. The man who allegedly stabbed two girls and was surprised by the receptionist at the hotel with a knife. The individual is in police custody as the alleged perpetrator. Investigators believe he came to the room with the intention of sexually assaulting them, according to central government representatives.

On the third floor there is no seal, but another main character of the case. A national police who is doing his internship course  in Marbella and was on holiday in Fuengirola. He is the officer who chased Abselam down the stairs and held him until colleagues arrived.

The victims were staying on Wednesday at the hostel, situated in the central avenue of the Condes de San Isidro to celebrate the end of the school year. They had come to visit a friend who was in Fuengirola. They were scheduled to leave on Friday, but they paid the bill and decided to extend their stay until Sunday.

Abselam went to Fuengirola on Friday. The Moroccan, who is a legal resident in Spain, had worked in construction, but was now unemployed. He doesn’t have any criminal record. He had lived in Las Gabias, a town in the province of Granada, but recently stopped by Mijas coast, where he rented an apartment. On Thursday, the lease ended, so he went on looking for a room in the hotel, where he reserved only for one day.

On Friday night, both groups went separately to walk around Fuengirola. “It seems that they coincided in a nightclub,” comments the director and owner of the Hostal El Cid, Carlos Lombardi. The girls returned to the hotel establishment about two-thirty in the morning. They greeted the receptionist and went to their room.

At 3.22 hours Abselam arrived. He was wearing a gray shirt and white pants. He wore a plastic cup in hand. At the desk, the clerk had the impression that he was drunk. He handed over the keys to the 404 and put his hand on the back to help him enter.

What happened next is what the National Police is trying to clarify. “The door to the room the girls were not forced. It is not known how he got into, “says Lombardi. But everyone knows the outcome. Antonio Serrano, the receptionist, heard the screams of one of the girls coming down the stairs. It was bloody. He kept repeating the words “crazy” (crazy in English) and “knife” (knife).

S. E. C. was lying dead on the floor of her room 505. He had several stab wounds, one deep in the neck. Apparently, her hands still held a few strands of the agressor’s hair that she pulled out in the struggle. Her friend, 19, suffered three cuts on her arms and one in the neck that nearly reached a vital area. She was evacuated to hospital, but soon after she was discharged and went to the police station to testify.

The cries of the girl woke up several guests of the hotel, including the policeman who was staying on the third floor. He punt on his trousers and went downstairs to see what was happening. Then he found Abselam, who was running down the stairs. He reduced him until his companions arrived and took charge of the detainee. The Moroccan also has stab wounds, possibly as a result of the struggle. At press time, he remained in the cells at the police station in Fuengirola awaiting questioning.

Translation: T&P.

More here.

The injured Swede, who had been stabbed at her hotel in Figuerola del Camp and taken to a nearby hospital, was treated for cuts on her hands and neck.

She was released from the hospital Saturday and taken to the local police station, according to Spanish authorities.

“The doctor told her that she had been very lucky because she had an injury to her neck that could have been fatal,” a source close to the investigation told local newspaper El Pais.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Related articles

• Spain: Moroccan man kills Swedish tourist, hurts another in attempted sexual assault (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)
• Spain: Moroccan sentenced to 27 years in prison after sexually assaulting a mentally retarded minor (teaandpolitics.wordpress.com)

Jihadists in Morocco

City of Salé, Morocco. Image via Wikipedia

The Belliraj cell’s release and radical preacher Mohamed Fizazi in April was an error of the regime and has emboldened other jihadi prisoners. Moreover, the fact that the auxiliary forces tried to calm the revolt in the prison of Salé saying that in a month will be a second and broader real grace, isn’t viewed with optimism. These prisoners and their supporters abroad are well organized, making it even out of prison and mobile images feed their victimization and work a battlefront that is extremely worrying in terms of security.

The increasing visibility of the Moroccan Islamist mobilizations under the 20/Feb Movement, and its growing effort to attract support among the diaspora abroad, particularly Europe, increases the problem. Recall that this ideology, though according to some, it’s more moderate, will be the probable winner in the coming elections that will be held in Tunisia, first, and then in Egypt. But its troubling aspect is what it is hiding: its fighting spirit and its radical vision of politics.

More here.

Morocco: director of main newspaper jailed

King Mohammed VI. Morocco. Image via Wikipedia

One month and twelve days after his arrest, the journalist Rachid Nini has been sentenced to one year imprisonment and a fine of about 89 euros for “contempt of justice“.

In the pages of ‘Al Massae‘, the most widely read daily newspaper of all Morocco, he used 9 items to denounce “terrorist practices” of state security forces and “unfair trials” in matters Islamists.

“Our team continues to work as before, we will not stop”, he told ElMundo.es Jajili Yussef, a spokesman for “Al Massae” who also considered that “they have put behind bars the best reporter of all Morocco, his imprisonment gives us strength to continue and protect our editorial line, based on the reporting of corrupt our system“.

More here.

Spain: Moroccan sentenced to 27 years in prison after sexually assaulting a mentally retarded minor

Police is still searching for his brother:

The fourth section of the Provincial Court of Valencia has sentenced a 36 year old man of Moroccan origin to a total of 27 years in prison for three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 16 years who suffered from a mentally retarded and who was held for three days in his house, located in the departure of the FOIA de La Pobla de Vallbona (Valencia). Furthermore, it should compensate the victim with 30,000 euros.

As recorded in the statement, dated May 9, 2011, the events occurred between 20 and 23 November 2007, when the accused invited the girl to get into his car and drove home, where she was held for three days and where both the offender and two other individuals, one of them being a brother of the accused, repeatedly kept full sexual relations with the child without her consent.

On September 23 the girl was released by the local police, after her mother had filed a complaint because of her disappearance. In the house were both the accused and his brother, who is currently missing.

Then the child was taken to the Hospital La Fe de Valencia, where she was assessed a probable mental retardation and showed the absence of injury. They also found a hair in the vaginal cavity, hair which may belong “to the brother of the accused or any person related to him by the mother. ”

The sentence considers that there is sufficient evidence to consider fully proved that both the accused and his two collaborators committed a crime of continuous sexual abuse and unlawful restraint, taking advantage of her mental deficit “to satisfy their lustful desires“.

Read about this here.

Spain: Barcelona, nest of counter-jihad spies

Barcelona. Image via Wikipedia

The Catalan capital has become a major center of operations of the intelligence services of all countries who are suffering and generate Jihadist terrorism and have diplomatic representation in Spain. The operation goes beyond Barcelona and extends to areas with high density of Muslim population.

The reason why Barcelona has become a nest of spies has its origin in the consideration of Catalonia as a source of primary importance to jihadists based in Europe.

… Among the reasons for considering Catalonia as a “the most dangerous nest of radical Islamists in the Mediterranean, the U.S. Secret Service pointed to the high percentage of legal and illegal immigration from North Africa-Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria- as well as Pakistan and Bangladesh, which in their view is a “magnet for recruiting terrorists. ” The concern has even led authorities meetings of experts and members of various intelligence services accredited in Spain, like the one held in Madrid a few weeks ago. A meeting just to talk of Catalonia as “new epicenter of jihadism. “

Found here.

Background:

Arranged marriages in Spain?

Yes, they exist among Muslim immigrants. Of course, normally women who suffer them, do not report them to the police or the authorities. With a few exceptions such as this one:

Nadia E., is a 21-year-old who moved from Morocco to La Seu d’Urgell (Lleida) two years ago. She reported him to the police after she wasn’t allowed to leave home without the use of clothing that concealed her entire body. He didn’t let her learn Spanish either. They were two of the alleged impositions she suffered from her husband, whom she married in an arranged marriage by parents of both in their native country.

… The victim said in court that he controlled her every move, forcing her to tell him when she exited and entered home, where she was going to and the name of the people she was going to speak to. She said her husband controlled her even when she was going to buy bread and required her to have all the windows closed. She added that her husband insulted and slapped her on a regular basis. He once threatened to kill her also saying he was going to throw her from the balcony.

More here. Found here.

Spain: Moroccan arrested on Jihad recruiting activities

The roommate of the young Moroccan arrested in Gran Canaria for alleged links with Al Qaeda cells, Othaman Elovadi, said that Imad El Mouahhid “is a mentally ill person. ” Elovadi, who ensured that the detainee takes drugs, had known him since 2003 and was at home when the police raided it.

The young Moroccan is accused of glorifying terrorism and proselytism. Presumably, El Mouahhid recruited young people and tried to persuade them to take part in terrorist activities.

He is a 25 year old, born in Tangiers (Morocco), who has been living in Spain for at least 8 years. His roommate described him as an authoritarian and mentally unstable person.

The Interior Ministry has been investigating him for three years following a possible link to Al Qaeda cells in Spain and it looks like he was part of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, an Islamist cell which is linked to the March 11th bombings in Madrid.

More here.

Nobel Peace Prize ceremony boycott grows due to Chinese pressure

Free Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo was imprisoned for 11 years due to his participation in the document called Chapter 08, in which several people supported democracy and the end to the “one-party”

… China and 18 other countries have decided not to be represented “for various reasons.” It noted that number has tripled from six weeks ago.

The countries joining China in its boycott include Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Tunisia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco and the Philippines.

The 58 countries who have embassies in Oslo were invited to attend.

China strongly objected to Liu’s win last October and levelled more criticism Tuesday, calling members of the Nobel committee “clowns” who are “interfering in China’s judicial affairs.”

The 54-year-old writer and academic was jailed in December 2009 to serve an 11-year term for subversion. He was detained just days before the publication of what has turned out to be an explosive political document, Charter 8, which he co-wrote.

Charter 08 calls for an end to one-party rule and the introduction of democratic reforms in China. It was signed, via the internet, by thousands of people, some of them Communist Party officials.

via CBC News – World – Nobel Peace Prize ceremony boycott grows.

UN: Islamic countries force resolution not to condemn killings due to sexual orientation

Arab and African nations succeeded Tuesday in getting a U.N. General Assembly panel to delete from a resolution condemning unjustified executions a specific reference to killings due to sexual orientation.

Western delegations expressed disappointment in the human rights committee’s vote to remove the reference to slayings due to sexual orientation from the resolution on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions.

“The subject of this amendment — the need for prompt and thorough investigations of all killing, including those committed for … sexual orientation — exists in this resolution simply because it is a continuing cause for concern,” a British statement to the committee said.

via Nihil Obstat: A exigència dels països musulmans, l’ONU deixa de condemnar les execucions d’homosexuals.

The countries pushing for this “measure” were Morocco (that US ally…) and Mali.

More here.

Spain: Moroccan women and two sons, killed by father

The bodies of two children found dead yesterday in an apartment in Tarragona next to his mother were found buried in the bathtub, under the woman’s body, sources have informed research.

Was this an honor killing?

The Police found the dead Sunday night in his home a woman, 26, of North African origin, and their two children, ages 2 and 6 years in the maritime district of Tarragona, and is looking for her husband, who had a restraining order, as the main suspect in the triple murder.

The woman’s body appeared about 20 hours ago, while the children’s bodies were found three hours later and under his mother, covered with cement and plaster, and in an advanced state of decomposition.

These sources indicate that the suspect committed the triple murder on Monday night, and hen the suspect fled, possibly to Morocco, where they had come from.

According to the data from the autopsy, the woman was beheaded with a knife, as the eldest daughter, while this hypothesis still has to be confirmed in the case of two-year-old child, whose post-mortem exam is scheduled for today.

Neighbors were in on Sunday afternoon and alerted the Fire Department of the Autonomous Community of a strong smell coming out of the building, located in the first floor of the number 9 from the street Reial de Tarragona.

The investigation, on which was ordered afterwards, has focused on the husband, Abdslam of “thirty-odd years,” according to its neighbors, against whom the judge had issued a restraining order last fall fordomestic abuse.

Abdslam had been admitted and treated at the Pere Mata de Reus for psychiatric problems and, last December, the victim asked for the repeal of the restraining order. Although the request was denied by the judge, both returned to live since then.

In addition, Abdslam had three previous convictions for domestic violence and escape from prison, the officials said.

Moreover, the city of Tarragona has decreed that today is the day of official mourning to express the condolences and the condemnation of this triple murder, and therefore the City Hall flags will fly all day at half mast.

Source.

Other cases in recent weeks:
Spain: Moroccan man kills sister, tries to hide it by calling emergencies.
Spain: 27-year-old Moroccan arrested for having his wife confined at home for 2 years.

Morocco: security services dismantle drug ring linked to AQ

Moroccan security services today dismantled a drug ring that did get cocaine and cannabis resin to Europe by land, sea and air and had branches in Latin America, Africa and Europe.

According to the note, the network had its headquarters in Mali, from where they carry out their activities “in collusion with terrorists belonging to the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).”

The Moroccan Interior Ministry said in a statement that the operation resulted in seven arrests, two of whom are Spanish, and the seizure of “significant sums” in Moroccan and foreign currency, vehicles and tear gas, in addition to caches. Drug Investigations reveal that the network could have introduced the drug in Morocco from Mali, and other quantities of the same substances would have been transported to European countries, which also would have to spend large sums of money in foreign currency.

The detainees have been brought to justice and have already begun investigations under the supervision of the prosecution, the statement said.

Source.

(Translated T&P).

Morocco: top magazine closes due to censorship

Morocco’s topselling Arabic language weekly ‘Nichane’, which had taken up in the past taboo subjects like monarchy and Islam, closed shop last week blaming “the highest circles of power” for organising a boycott of advertisers.

The trouble for the magazine began last year after Nichane, its French-language sister publication TelQuel and France’s Le Monde newspaper conducted an opinion poll on the monarchy. The poll, which found that King Mohammed VI had done a good overall job in the first decade of his reign but needed to do more to reduce poverty, was swiftly censored. About 100,000 copies of the magazine were destroyed, and the particular edition of Le Monde was banned from selling in Morocco. The reason given was that the monarchy “cannot be the object of debate even through a poll”.

The royal holding company Omnium Nord-Africain Group was the first to boycott Nichane (which means “straighforward” or “direct”), followed by state-owned and quasi-state businesses close to the government. The boycott was brazen. After the revenues dipped to 80 percent, the shareholders decided it was time to take a call. They met last week and decided to close down the magazine, the TelQuel group said in a statement later.

TelQuel, meanwhile, will continue to publish. Since most of its French-language advertisers are based outside of Morocco, it does not face any immediate danger.

Source,

Background:
Restrictions to press freedom still exist.
Two prominent magazines are blocked.

Morocco: blogger threatened with death

I have received two messages on my Facebook inbox, in the first message, the sender threatened of slaughtering me like sheep being slain! in the second message titled ” an appointment” , the sender says to me : “we shall meet at Elhajeb where murdering you is going to take a place!” Elhajeb, however, 15 km away from my village, is the nearest place which i often go to every now and then! This points out that the terrorist exerted extra efforts to find out my location!

Kacem blogs at Bahmout, where the famous quote from Voltaire, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll fight for your right to say it”, is displayed. He “blogs for change” and supports freedom of religion. He also says that Facebook has done nothing against the authors of this repeated threats.

Found at Global Voices Advocacy.

Spain: center-right politician marries Moroccan Muslim woman

El Mercantil Valenciano:

Gingerly, and overshadowed by the news coming from Melilla, some written and digital media picked an “echo of society” with political undertones. PP MP Gustavo de Aristegui celebrated this weekend (NOTE: it was this last week-end) in Rabat a party in style to celebrate his commitment to Nadia Jalfi. Jalfi is Moroccan and works as a communications professional in an agency which was aimed at improving the external image of her country at an international level. Aristegui is PP’s Foreign Ministry spokesman in Congress, and a few months ago, he caused unrest within the party for having placed himself on the side of Morocco in the conflict with the Sahrawi Aminatu Haidar. At that time there were people who pointed out that he was maintaining that position due to his personal good relationships in Morocco.

Furthermore, at first, there were rumours which claimed that the bride was a relative of King Mohamed VI. Gustavo de Aristegui himself, who hasn’t spoken for months on the subject, flatly denied yesterday that end to ABC News, as reported by this site in the afternoon. His fiancee has nothing to do with Alawite royalty, according to the diplomat. In any case, according to El Mundo and other MSM, colleagues within the PP “are not thrilled” with this wedding, specially because Arístegui, an expert on Islamic issues, is to marry a Moroccan Muslim.

Actually, the wedding will not take place until next October but this weekend they held a typically Moroccan engagement party. Arístegui has also added that, after the marriage, Jalfi will leave his current job in the service of Morocco’s image abroad. Once married, they will live in Madrid and he will continue to perform its work in the Congress of Deputies.

It will be a civil ceremony. The two are divorced and met two years ago as a result of their work. Since then the relationship caused a lot of rumours, specially the mentioned ones which linked her to the Moroccan royalty. The guests (about sixty from Spain) will be arriving today in the neighboring country. Among others, and despite suspicions, there are also PP leaders.

Gustavo Manuel de Aristegui y San Román (Madrid, 1963) graduated in law and diplomacy. His political career began with José María Aznar, who appointed him general director of his cabinet in the Interior Ministry, who was then Jaime Mayor Oreja, in the first Council of Ministers he presided. Since 2000, he has been PP’s MP for Guipúzcoa (Basque country) and deputy for foreign affairs spokesman of the parliamentary PP group.

The web is full on comments related to this wedding. Because of the high position in Moroccan society the bride has, it’s possible that King Mohammed VI has had to give his approval to the wedding. There is also speculation on how her Muslim conservative political beliefs and customs will affect his political views and positions.

There are three facts here, which are interesting. He has been, inside PP, one of the most outspoken critics of Jihadism (his book “Jihad in Spain. The obssession for the reconquest of Al-Andalus” is really good), although his soft position towards Islam didn’t make me an enthusiastic fan of him. Then there is the question about whether or not he has converted to Islam, specially considering that no Muslim woman can be married to a non-Muslim man. And thirdly, Spanish-Moroccan relationship is not at its best moment now, so it’s not very convenient to see the man who is Foreign Policy speaker in Parliament of the main opposition party, married to a high-class woman who is working in improving Moroccan image abroad, that is, working for Moroccan Govt and socially linked to it. 

There are of course, people who are trying to tell critics that “oh, please, don’t be judgemental”. If Mr. Arístegui would be the baker or the greengrocer, I wouldn’t be worried at all. But he has a really important role in the political landscape to overseen the important consequences this marriage can have. Not for him only, but for Spain as a whole.

Morocco: Christian convert serving 15 years for conversion

Compass Direct:

Nearly five years into the prison sentence of the only Christian in Morocco serving time for his faith, Moroccan Christians and advocates question the harsh measures of the Muslim state toward a man who dared speak openly about Jesus.

By the end of December Jamaa Ait Bakrim, 46, will have been in prison for five years at Morocco’s largest prison, Prison Centrale, in Kenitra. An outspoken Christian convert, Bakrim was sentenced to 15 years prison for “proselytizing” and destroying “the goods of others” in 2005 after burning two defunct utility poles located in front of his private business in a small town in south Morocco.

Advocates and Moroccan Christians said, however, that the severity of his sentence in relation to his misdemeanor shows that authorities were determined to put him behind bars because he persistently spoke about his faith.

“He became a Christian and didn’t keep it to himself,” said a Moroccan Christian and host for Al Hayat Television who goes only by his first name, Rachid, for security reasons. “He shared it with people around him. In Morocco, and this happened to me personally, if you become a Christian you may be persecuted by your family. If you keep it to yourself, no one will bother you. If you share it with anyone else and start speaking about it, that’s another story.”

Morocco, that very “modern” Islamic theocracy…

Background:
Christian proselitism is terrorism, ulemas say.
Crackdown on Christians, what has changed?

Spain: Moroccan activists prayed last Friday on Spanish-Moroccan frontier in Melilla

Image via Wikipedia. Melilla’s Flag.

El Mundo:

The Coordinator of the Civil Society of Northern Morocco and the Committee for the Liberation of Ceuta and Melilla have today moved the main prayer of the week, which is celebrated on Friday at noon, near the border with Melilla.

According to police sources, between 70 and 80 people have participated in joint prayer, which was led by a Moroccan imam of a nearby town.

For the occasion, the have deployed along the border, in the “no man’s land”, rugs and mats on which the prayers were made.

Before the start of the prayer, which began around 14.20 Spanish time, activists have expressed proclamations against the Popular Party and against “the occupation and imperialism of Spain.”

They have also displayed banners with the image of Melilla’s Autonomous President, Juan José Imbroda, as well as PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, and former Prime Minister José María Aznar, who has been criticized by Morocco after visiting the city independently.

The prayer coincides with the celebration of Melilla’s Day, which commemorates the 513 anniversary of the Spanish city.