MOROCCO'S HELL ON WHEELS

[Ceylal]

Morocco: Islamic State Tempts Morocco Jihadists
By Mawassi Lahcen
Moroccans have long felt insulated from jihadist violence in neighbouring countries. But the advent of the Islamic State (ISIS) brings the risk of violence closer to home than they ever thought possible.

Observers expect a qualitative shift in terrorist activity in Morocco, due to the recent conversion by expat jihadists to ISIS.

In a surprise change-of-heart, Moroccan leaders of jihadi groups in Syria recently declared fealty to the group. These figures used to be neutral regarding the fight between al-Qaeda in Syria (Jabhat al-Nusra) and the Islamic State.

Analysts now expect this turnaround by Moroccans fighting abroad to push the Salafia Jihadia movement back home into the arms of ISIS, thereby making it more violent and bloody.

The country's best-known radical clerics have thus far rejected the Islamic State's so-called "caliphate". Mohamed Abdelouahab Rafiki (known as Abou Hafs) has criticised violence, while another Moroccan radical cleric, Omar Haddouchi, spoke out against joining up with "a stranger in a strange place".

But according to Cheikh Mohamed Fizazi, Moroccan salafists have yet to choose a common ideological side behind which they can rally.

"Salafism in Morocco comes in different forms. Their only problem is that they don't follow one school of thought or one path," the former leader of Morocco's Salafi Jihadism movement told Magharebia last July.

Many are uniting in Syria, however. Beginning in mid-October, several groups operating in Syria under the umbrella of Jabhat Ansar al-Din announced their adherence to ISIS.

This alliance includes al-Qaeda inspired jihadist group Sham al-Islam, whose Moroccan founder Brahim Benchekroune was killed last April in Syria. Salman Arjani on November 8th said that he was travelling to Raqqa with 100 fighters in order to pledge loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's organisation.

Arjani, a Saudi national, is considered the ideological mind behind the Sham al-Islam movement.

Days earlier, Moroccan national Jawad Achraf, known as Abu Anas al-Andalusi, announced that he too had joined ISIS. He made the switch along with emirs allied with the Moroccan jihadist group.

The leaders had been among the harshest critics of the Islamic State.

This new orientation of these figures is expected to have significant resonance in Morocco.

According to political analyst Abdellah Rami, the pledge of allegiance by leaders of Moroccan fighters in Syria will divide Salafi Jihadi elements in Morocco between those who support ISIS and al-Baghdadi, and those still loyal to al-Qaeda central and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"The declaration of allegiance to the organisation of al-Baghdadi by ideological and on-the-ground leaders in Syria will have a big impact in Morocco," he says.


"It will lead to the isolation of local leaders such as Omar Haddouchi and others," Rami adds.

He predicts that Morocco will witness the emergence in the future of brigades affiliated with ISIS, which will use the same methods followed in Syria and Iraq.

Bloodbath for Morocco?

African Federation for Strategic Studies (FAES) head Mohamed Benhammou also warns that Moroccan Salafi Jihadists may turn to ISIS methods and behaviour in the kingdom.

"ISIS considers murder and bloodshed a goal unto itself. The terrorist organisation advises its members to use all available means to achieve its goal, from suicide bombings, to other methods of killing," Benhammou tells Magharebia.

"ISIS is the bloodiest and the most brutal terrorist organisation. They glorify slaughter and murder and make it in the heart of their faith," he adds.

For his part, Amazigh analyst and activist Boubaker Ounghir worries that the pro-ISIS movement in Morocco will create unprecedented security concerns.

"Although this movement poses a real threat to all Moroccans because of its ideas, which allow the killing of everyone, ethnic and religious minorities in Morocco are more susceptible to these risks," Ounghir tells Magharebia.

In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State has directed its guns and knives mainly against the Kurdish and Christian minorities, the activist notes. And admirers of the terror group in Morocco would likely follow the same trend.

Amazigh activists have already been the subject of fatwas calling for their blood, he notes. Jewish and Christian citizens are also at risk.

If the number of recent terror arrests is any indicator, the danger is growing.

There has been an increase in the number of ISIS elements active in Morocco. Sale judges were recently surprised by militant statements made by citizens charged in connection with fighting in Syria.

The defendants said they considered Moroccan society heretical and the court illegitimate.

One cell also planned terrorist operations in Morocco targeting military and security installations, economic and foreign interests, and several well-known figures.

The shift in allegiance to ISIS is even happening in prisons.

Detainees in terrorist cases, such as Mohamed Fartakh and Abdel Ilah Ahram, issued audio tapes from prison declaring allegiance to al-Baghdadi. The statements posted on social networking sites were dubbed "Moroccan Support to the Islamic State".

In just the past month, several other arrests prove that Morocco has reason to worry. A Moroccan man, his two young daughters and a woman with whom he had an "orfi" marriage were stopped October 15th before they could reach Islamic State contacts abroad.

Another suspect was arrested in Al-Hoceima for online posts glorifying the "savage terror operations" committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the interior ministry said.

Still another man in his 30's was arrested in Oujda. He had sworn allegiance to ISIS and called online for "operations of destruction".

He had also served 10 years in prison for his role in the 2003 Casablanca bombings.

Given these developments, Morocco has raised its security vigilance to the maximum level. Last week, the government launched new security plans that combine military, police and parallel forces.

The country is not facing any direct, tangible threats in the foreseeable future, but caution and vigilance are necessary in the face of terrorism, Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad said.

 

[DOUBLESHOT]

How Algeria could destroy the EU

​

It is more than possible that before any Brexit deal is discussed, let alone concluded, the EU will have effectively collapsed. And the key factor could be the demise of Algeria’s leader of 17 years. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is 79 and has needed a wheelchair since having a stroke in 2013. ‘His mind is even more infirm than his body,’ one observer tells me. Bouteflika returned home recently after a week’s stay at a private clinic in France. His prognosis isn’t good.

Officially, Bouteflika underwent standard ‘periodic medical tests’ in Grenoble. But no one believes this. Among people who know Algeria well, there is little doubt that he is severely incapacitated and does not have much time left. That means that his regime does not have much time left either. The consequences of that will stretch far beyond Algeria.

When Bouteflika goes, Algeria will probably implode. The Islamists who have been kept at bay by his iron hand will exploit the vacuum. Tensions that have been buried since the civil war will re-emerge. And then Europe could be overwhelmed by another great wave of refugees from North Africa.

Yet almost no one outside Algeria is remotely aware of what is about to happen. Other, that is, than western intelligence agencies. They may have been caught un-awares by the misnamed Arab Spring in 2011, but they are all too aware of what is on the cards in Algeria. Behind the scenes, governments are readying themselves for another civil war — and its consequences.

It was only 24 years ago that 150,000 died in an Algerian civil war between the Islamists and the state. This time, things will be far more bloody, not least because of the development of armed Islamism over the past few years.


Some observers have mistaken the decline in electoral success of Islamist parties as evidence of the decline of Islamism within Algeria. El-Islah, Ennahda and the Movement of Society and Peace have fractured and split. In the 2012 elections, they tried coming together as the Green Algeria Alliance but still managed to win only 48 out of 462 seats in parliament.

This is deeply misleading. Islamist leaders have switched tactics. Long ago they realised they cannot win through the ballot, so they have been using other means. As self-proclaimed guardians of public morality, they have campaigned to ensure the school curriculum is focused on ‘Islamic science’ and used their communal influence to try to stop the government changing the ‘family code’, which keeps women under the ‘guardianship’ of men. They have had fatwas issued demanding that ministries ensure women wear veils and men grow beards, and last year attempted — albeit unsuccessfully — to block a bill that criminalised violence against women.

Within the past few years, the veil has become normal in Algeria, with an estimated 70 per cent of women now wearing one (up to 90 per cent outside towns). And a billion dollars is now being spent building the largest mosque in Africa, in Algiers.

And this is all while the state successfully opposes formal Islamist influence. When President Bouteflika goes, it is clear that the Islamists — propelled by their brothers outside Algeria — will attempt to seize the day. Although you will struggle to find any mention of Algeria and its likely future direction in the press, European governments have been reflecting for months on what looks like a brewing crisis.

An Algerian civil war would create huge numbers of refugees. One analyst told me he expects 10 to 15 million Algerians will try to leave. Given Algeria’s history, they would expect to be rescued by one nation: France. In its impact on the EU, even a fraction of this number would dwarf the effect of the Syrian civil war. Given the political trauma that the refugee crisis has already caused in Europe, a massive Algerian exodus could cause tremendous insecurity.

Obviously, no one knows how long Bouteflika has left. Nor do we know how rapidly civil war could develop. But were the crisis to begin before the French presidential election next April, and were Algerian refugees to start appearing on French soil — neither scenario by any means impossible — it is hard to imagine anything more likely to hand victory to Marine Le Pen and the Front National.

Other, that is, than a further Islamist terror attack in France, which the French authorities already believe is extremely likely. It would become even likelier with a sudden influx of Algerian extremists. A Le Pen victory would make Brexit seem almost irrelevant, given her pledge to hold a referendum on French EU membership. With France pulling out, or Frexit, there could effectively be no EU for Britain to leave.

Of course, this scenario is predicated on a series of ifs. But even if only one or two come about, and even if Bouteflika doesn’t die until after the April vote in France, the consequences will be barely less dramatic. An Algerian civil war and the ensuing refugee crisis would shake France to the core. Whether it is Fillon or Le Pen in the Elysée, the French president (and his or her EU counterparts) would have to grapple with a crisis that could prove to be the EU’s final tipping point.
​

 

[Baybars Han]

Isnt this Bouteflika a french stooge?

 

[Ceylal]

Isnt this Bouteflika a french stooge?

Like your Sultan..a Natanyahu Stooge..

How Algeria could destroy the EU

It is more than possible that before any Brexit deal is discussed, let alone concluded, the EU will have effectively collapsed. And the key factor could be the demise of Algeria’s leader of 17 years. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is 79 and has needed a wheelchair since having a stroke in 2013. ‘His mind is even more infirm than his body,’ one observer tells me. Bouteflika returned home recently after a week’s stay at a private clinic in France. His prognosis isn’t good.

Officially, Bouteflika underwent standard ‘periodic medical tests’ in Grenoble. But no one believes this. Among people who know Algeria well, there is little doubt that he is severely incapacitated and does not have much time left. That means that his regime does not have much time left either. The consequences of that will stretch far beyond Algeria.

When Bouteflika goes, Algeria will probably implode. The Islamists who have been kept at bay by his iron hand will exploit the vacuum. Tensions that have been buried since the civil war will re-emerge. And then Europe could be overwhelmed by another great wave of refugees from North Africa.

Yet almost no one outside Algeria is remotely aware of what is about to happen. Other, that is, than western intelligence agencies. They may have been caught un-awares by the misnamed Arab Spring in 2011, but they are all too aware of what is on the cards in Algeria. Behind the scenes, governments are readying themselves for another civil war — and its consequences.

It was only 24 years ago that 150,000 died in an Algerian civil war between the Islamists and the state. This time, things will be far more bloody, not least because of the development of armed Islamism over the past few years.


Some observers have mistaken the decline in electoral success of Islamist parties as evidence of the decline of Islamism within Algeria. El-Islah, Ennahda and the Movement of Society and Peace have fractured and split. In the 2012 elections, they tried coming together as the Green Algeria Alliance but still managed to win only 48 out of 462 seats in parliament.

This is deeply misleading. Islamist leaders have switched tactics. Long ago they realised they cannot win through the ballot, so they have been using other means. As self-proclaimed guardians of public morality, they have campaigned to ensure the school curriculum is focused on ‘Islamic science’ and used their communal influence to try to stop the government changing the ‘family code’, which keeps women under the ‘guardianship’ of men. They have had fatwas issued demanding that ministries ensure women wear veils and men grow beards, and last year attempted — albeit unsuccessfully — to block a bill that criminalised violence against women.

Within the past few years, the veil has become normal in Algeria, with an estimated 70 per cent of women now wearing one (up to 90 per cent outside towns). And a billion dollars is now being spent building the largest mosque in Africa, in Algiers.

And this is all while the state successfully opposes formal Islamist influence. When President Bouteflika goes, it is clear that the Islamists — propelled by their brothers outside Algeria — will attempt to seize the day. Although you will struggle to find any mention of Algeria and its likely future direction in the press, European governments have been reflecting for months on what looks like a brewing crisis.

An Algerian civil war would create huge numbers of refugees. One analyst told me he expects 10 to 15 million Algerians will try to leave. Given Algeria’s history, they would expect to be rescued by one nation: France. In its impact on the EU, even a fraction of this number would dwarf the effect of the Syrian civil war. Given the political trauma that the refugee crisis has already caused in Europe, a massive Algerian exodus could cause tremendous insecurity.

Obviously, no one knows how long Bouteflika has left. Nor do we know how rapidly civil war could develop. But were the crisis to begin before the French presidential election next April, and were Algerian refugees to start appearing on French soil — neither scenario by any means impossible — it is hard to imagine anything more likely to hand victory to Marine Le Pen and the Front National.

Other, that is, than a further Islamist terror attack in France, which the French authorities already believe is extremely likely. It would become even likelier with a sudden influx of Algerian extremists. A Le Pen victory would make Brexit seem almost irrelevant, given her pledge to hold a referendum on French EU membership. With France pulling out, or Frexit, there could effectively be no EU for Britain to leave.

Of course, this scenario is predicated on a series of ifs. But even if only one or two come about, and even if Bouteflika doesn’t die until after the April vote in France, the consequences will be barely less dramatic. An Algerian civil war and the ensuing refugee crisis would shake France to the core. Whether it is Fillon or Le Pen in the Elysée, the French president (and his or her EU counterparts) would have to grapple with a crisis that could prove to be the EU’s final tipping point.
​

remember Bataclan, Paris, and Belgium..THEY WERE MOROCCANS...
EU has no thing to fear from Algeria, unless they fooock with us...And for the time being it's all quiet in the North front...Now we are worried about Lybia's Eastern Front , with Sissi having a hair up up his tukhas, after Trump complimented him on his shoes..

 

[DOUBLESHOT]

Isnt this Bouteflika a french stooge?

This is condition to be Algerian minister or president .. in fact some algerian minister their parents served in french army and supported french colonialism .

​

 

[Muhammed45]

Morocco: Islamic State Tempts Morocco Jihadists
By Mawassi Lahcen
Moroccans have long felt insulated from jihadist violence in neighbouring countries. But the advent of the Islamic State (ISIS) brings the risk of violence closer to home than they ever thought possible.

Observers expect a qualitative shift in terrorist activity in Morocco, due to the recent conversion by expat jihadists to ISIS.

In a surprise change-of-heart, Moroccan leaders of jihadi groups in Syria recently declared fealty to the group. These figures used to be neutral regarding the fight between al-Qaeda in Syria (Jabhat al-Nusra) and the Islamic State.

Analysts now expect this turnaround by Moroccans fighting abroad to push the Salafia Jihadia movement back home into the arms of ISIS, thereby making it more violent and bloody.

The country's best-known radical clerics have thus far rejected the Islamic State's so-called "caliphate". Mohamed Abdelouahab Rafiki (known as Abou Hafs) has criticised violence, while another Moroccan radical cleric, Omar Haddouchi, spoke out against joining up with "a stranger in a strange place".

But according to Cheikh Mohamed Fizazi, Moroccan salafists have yet to choose a common ideological side behind which they can rally.

"Salafism in Morocco comes in different forms. Their only problem is that they don't follow one school of thought or one path," the former leader of Morocco's Salafi Jihadism movement told Magharebia last July.

Many are uniting in Syria, however. Beginning in mid-October, several groups operating in Syria under the umbrella of Jabhat Ansar al-Din announced their adherence to ISIS.

This alliance includes al-Qaeda inspired jihadist group Sham al-Islam, whose Moroccan founder Brahim Benchekroune was killed last April in Syria. Salman Arjani on November 8th said that he was travelling to Raqqa with 100 fighters in order to pledge loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's organisation.

Arjani, a Saudi national, is considered the ideological mind behind the Sham al-Islam movement.

Days earlier, Moroccan national Jawad Achraf, known as Abu Anas al-Andalusi, announced that he too had joined ISIS. He made the switch along with emirs allied with the Moroccan jihadist group.

The leaders had been among the harshest critics of the Islamic State.

This new orientation of these figures is expected to have significant resonance in Morocco.

According to political analyst Abdellah Rami, the pledge of allegiance by leaders of Moroccan fighters in Syria will divide Salafi Jihadi elements in Morocco between those who support ISIS and al-Baghdadi, and those still loyal to al-Qaeda central and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"The declaration of allegiance to the organisation of al-Baghdadi by ideological and on-the-ground leaders in Syria will have a big impact in Morocco," he says.


"It will lead to the isolation of local leaders such as Omar Haddouchi and others," Rami adds.

He predicts that Morocco will witness the emergence in the future of brigades affiliated with ISIS, which will use the same methods followed in Syria and Iraq.

Bloodbath for Morocco?

African Federation for Strategic Studies (FAES) head Mohamed Benhammou also warns that Moroccan Salafi Jihadists may turn to ISIS methods and behaviour in the kingdom.

"ISIS considers murder and bloodshed a goal unto itself. The terrorist organisation advises its members to use all available means to achieve its goal, from suicide bombings, to other methods of killing," Benhammou tells Magharebia.

"ISIS is the bloodiest and the most brutal terrorist organisation. They glorify slaughter and murder and make it in the heart of their faith," he adds.

For his part, Amazigh analyst and activist Boubaker Ounghir worries that the pro-ISIS movement in Morocco will create unprecedented security concerns.

"Although this movement poses a real threat to all Moroccans because of its ideas, which allow the killing of everyone, ethnic and religious minorities in Morocco are more susceptible to these risks," Ounghir tells Magharebia.

In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State has directed its guns and knives mainly against the Kurdish and Christian minorities, the activist notes. And admirers of the terror group in Morocco would likely follow the same trend.

Amazigh activists have already been the subject of fatwas calling for their blood, he notes. Jewish and Christian citizens are also at risk.

If the number of recent terror arrests is any indicator, the danger is growing.

There has been an increase in the number of ISIS elements active in Morocco. Sale judges were recently surprised by militant statements made by citizens charged in connection with fighting in Syria.

The defendants said they considered Moroccan society heretical and the court illegitimate.

One cell also planned terrorist operations in Morocco targeting military and security installations, economic and foreign interests, and several well-known figures.

The shift in allegiance to ISIS is even happening in prisons.

Detainees in terrorist cases, such as Mohamed Fartakh and Abdel Ilah Ahram, issued audio tapes from prison declaring allegiance to al-Baghdadi. The statements posted on social networking sites were dubbed "Moroccan Support to the Islamic State".

In just the past month, several other arrests prove that Morocco has reason to worry. A Moroccan man, his two young daughters and a woman with whom he had an "orfi" marriage were stopped October 15th before they could reach Islamic State contacts abroad.

Another suspect was arrested in Al-Hoceima for online posts glorifying the "savage terror operations" committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the interior ministry said.

Still another man in his 30's was arrested in Oujda. He had sworn allegiance to ISIS and called online for "operations of destruction".

He had also served 10 years in prison for his role in the 2003 Casablanca bombings.

Given these developments, Morocco has raised its security vigilance to the maximum level. Last week, the government launched new security plans that combine military, police and parallel forces.

The country is not facing any direct, tangible threats in the foreseeable future, but caution and vigilance are necessary in the face of terrorism, Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad said.

Damn! Somebody save Morocco from these goons!!!

This is condition to be Algerian minister or president .. in fact some algerian minister their parents served in french army and supported french colonialism .

​

I thought عبدالعزيز بوتفليقه has forced Franchies to apologize Algerians for the crimes done by Frenchy army.

 

[DOUBLESHOT]

I thought عبدالعزيز بوتفليقه has forced Franchies to apologize Algerians for the crimes done by Frenchy army.

No

​