Articles
Morocco and The Syrian Uprising
- NEWS
- 08/22/12
Said Temsamani
Washington / Morocco News Board--- On the eve of the upcoming meeting of the next fourth "Friends of Syria" that Morocco will hold, the Moroccan government has started taking concrete measures to give a powerful signal to the current Syrian regime that the humanitarian situation in that country cannot be tolerated anymore. On July 16, Morocco ordered the Syrian ambassador to leave the kingdom and called for an immediate transition to democracy in Syria.
The Moroccan Deputy Foreign Minister Minister Youssef Amrani was dispatched to Washington and then to Paris to coordinate with the American and French decison makers of the next diplomatic steps to be taken to force the Syrian regime to yield to the will of its people and to stop the bloodbath in Syria.
Rabat's move followed the defection of Syria's ambassador to Iraq and the flight the week before of a prominent general once close to Assad and very recently his Prime Minister - developments that Western officials said showed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was losing his grip on power as the rebellion against him drags on.
Last week rumors circulated that the ambassador to Rabat, Nabih Ismail, had also defected to the rebel side. A Syrian embassy official denied this but had no further comment.
Morocco wishes for "an efficient and resolute action to ensure a political transition towards a democratic setup that guarantees Syria's unity, stability and regional safety to achieve the brotherly Syrian people's aspirations for dignity, freedom and development.
Morocco had already recalled its ambassador Ikhssasi in November 2011, and the Moroccan’s decision to kick out the Syrian ambassador was the latest in a series of diplomatic expulsions that have increased Assad's international isolation as Syrian rebels gain strength.
In May, the United States, France, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Bulgaria and Switzerland all turfed out Syrian diplomats in response to a massacre of 108 people in the town of Houla in May. Japan followed suit.
Morocco's North African neighbors Tunisia and Libya, which saw their own dictators swept away in last year's Arab Spring uprisings, expelled Syrian diplomats as well.
Morocco, however, wanted to go further and did not want to limit its actions only to diplomacy but towards humanitarian aid to rescue the Syrian refugees at the Jordanian-Syrian borders. On August 5, HM the King ordered an immdeiate humanitarian assistance to express to the Jordanians Morocco’s full solidarity with Jordan which is facing, for months now, a huge flow of Syrian refugees fleeing growing violence in their country. In fact, several planes flew to Amman full of food, water, tents, medical suplies… and notably a large medical team composed of military specialist doctors to present medical assistance to the Syrian refugees. Through this gesture, King Mohammed wanted to set an example to other Arab leaders in the region and to remind them of the scope and seriousness of the humanitarian crisis in Syria since the outbreak of hostilities, leaving 20,000 dead and forcing hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians, including women and children, to leave their houses and take refuge, with no resources, in neigbouring countries, including Jordan.
Given the escalation of violence, the number of these refugees is growing steadily and their moral and material situation is extremely alarming.
Hopefully, other Arab leaders, will follow King Mohammed’s initiative and act quickly to assist their Syrian brothers and sisters who have been living under unbearable conditions for more than a year.
Enough of rhetoric and empty speeches of condemnation and denunciation of the Syrian regime, it is time for action to allow the democratic winds of the Arab Spring to blow in the region.
Said Temsamani is a political observer and consultant, who follows events in Morocco and across North Africa.
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Comments (6)
If you know Morocco, it is too weak on the international stage to make any difference.
The only time Morocco was relevant is when it was secretly hosting the Egyptians-Israe li talks under Hassan II.
Let is be know that Morocco sends food and medical supplies not only to Syria but to Niger, Senegal, and Mali. It also sent 2 planes to Spain to fight the Spanish fires. These good deeds unfortunately do not make any difference.
"Friends of Syria" are meeting in Morocco as a Place and not that Morocco will make any difference, right now the only ones who can chance the course of the events taking place in Syria are those damned Chinese and Russians who do not care how many Syrian civilians died.
Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that Morocco is playing a BIG role in overthrowing the dictator when we have our own fish to fry.
My hat's off to the Qataris who are doing everything to get a rid of Bashar after helping out overthrowing/Ki lling Qaddafi. Give credit when credit is due.
As for M6, he needs to get a rid of the elites/thives (read Benchemsi's article) that he surrounded himself with. It would be good for him and it would be good for Morocco.
Like we use to say “if I don’t know you my a**,I would call you a tank”,the regime is not helping anybody for the goodness of their hart,they’re playing the international community like a fiddle.
And by the way can the king start ,by sending some assistance to his own population that live in misery next door ,before going around the world pretending that morocco is eldorado ,and he is the good guy,he is lucky that the population got conned,by his constitution mixed with coercion ,if not he was willing to use the same outcome as the butcher of Damascus .and the military was already on high alert ready to rumble to save the regime.
Syria is the only Arab country that still fights for honor - leave it to those without honor to collaborate with the Zionist entity
Bashar like many of those un-elected leaders scotch themselves to the chair and becomes very difficult for them to get off, the only way is to get rid of them by force. That is how you free something that is stuck.
Morocco will play any role it can to divert domestic attention of a miserable rule by the king, even if it means sleeping with Israel. Have you notice how many music and film festivals are hosted in Morocco? Visit any village with few houses and you will see some kind of festival is planned.
Either you support Apartheid israel and serve as a host for the "friends of Syria meeting" or you have honor and integrity and continue to fight Apartheid israel and then you would have to support the legtimate Syrian government.
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