Morocco News at Maroc Info

The World Bank (WB) administration board approved, on Thursday, a USD 100Mn loan to fund the program of public administration reform in Morocco, a press release of the world finance institution said.
The loan that will be paid out by the international bank for reconstruction and development (IBRD), is to benefit from an 8-year grace period and is repayable over 20 years.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI laid on Wednesday the foundation stone of "the Mohammed VI football academy" near the city of Sala Al Jadida, at a total cost of US$19 million. Stretching on 18 ha, the new facility mainly aims at identifying and training soccer players through an educational system combining sport and study.

Three Mauritanian political parties - the People 's Rally Party (PRP), the Mauritanian Renewal Party (PMR) and the Rally for Just i ce and Equality (RJE) - have expressed support for the Moroccan initiative for the autonomy of the Western Sahara.

This is prompted by the "importance of Morocco's territorial integrity in mainta ining peace and stability" in the Arab Maghreb sub-region, the parties said in a statement in Nouakchott on Saturday.

One man describes a harrowing dash through a minefield, his pregnant wife in tow, as they raced to escape from the very rebels who were supposed to be protecting them.

Another talks of unmarried pregnant women and unwed mothers, including rape victims, held at a prison camp in North Africa.

The stories, recounted by five Western Saharan refugees on a Moroccan-sponsored trip to the U.S., shed light on the conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front rebel movement over a mineral-rich region claimed by both.

Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, has held talks with the President of the Moroccan Senate, Mustapha Oukacha, in Morocco's capital city of Rabat.

The two sides exchanged views on strengthening bilateral cooperation and dialogue.

Li Changchun also conveyed greetings from CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin and Li praised the development of Sino-Moroccan ties since the two countries established diplomatic relations fifty years ago.