The Spring/Summer 2012 issue of The Journal of International Security Affairs examines Morocco’s experience in the ‘Arab Spring’, what has set the North African country apart, the challenges it has faced and the progresses made. In an article, “Morocco’s Momentum” Dr. J. Peter Pham, international security expert, describes Morocco’s efforts to strengthen its democracy—which began [...]
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Seven Months – Still Hostage: al Qaeda threat to kill kidnap victim seized in Polisario camp
Moroccan American Center for Policy / AFP (Washington, DC and Bamako, Mali, May 22, 2012) — Tonight marks seven months in captivity for Western aid-workers Rossella Urru of Italy and Ainhoa Fernández de Rincón and Enric Gonyacons of Spain, who were kidnapped from a Polisario-run refugee camp near Tindouf, Algeria on October 23 by an al-Qaeda offshoot, the Movement for Oneness [...]
NATO Summit,Chicago welcome Morocco as key Partner, model of tolerance, openness
The White House, NATO, MAP (Washington, DC & Chicago, IL, May 21, 2012) — Morocco was welcomed as one of 13 key partners to the 25th Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Chicago, where President Obama and the 27 leaders of the other Allied nations acted to further strengthen and deepen NATO’s [...]
Day 206 in Captivity: Al-Qaeda sect threatens to kill kidnap victim seized in Polisario camp
Moroccan American Center for Policy / AFP (Washington, DC and Bamako, Mali, May 16, 2012) — Day 206 of captivity brought disturbing news for Western aid-workers Rossella Urru of Italy and Ainhoa Fernández de Rincón and Enric Gonyacons of Spain, kidnapped from a Polisario-run refugee camp near Tindouf, Algeria on October 23 by an al-Qaeda offshoot, the Movement for Oneness and [...]
200 Days in Captivity: Western Aidworkers Seized in Polisario Camp by al-Qaeda Sect in Mali
Moroccan American Center for Policy (Washington, DC, May 10, 2012) —Today marks more than 200 days of captivity for Western aid-workers Rossella Urru of Italy and Ainhoa Fernández de Rincón and Enric Gonyacons of Spain, kidnapped October 23 from the Polisario-run refugee camps near Tindouf in Algeria by an al-Qaeda offshoot, the Movement for Oneness and [...]
Polisario Camps: Is there a solution? US Acknowledges Protracted Refugee Crisis
US State Department , USCRI, Moroccan American Center for Policy (Washington, DC, May 7, 2012) — At this moment, tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees are being held in camps under inhumane conditions run by the Polisario Front in southern Algeria. The exact number of refugees in the Polisario camps is not known because the [...]
Carnegie: Driving Insecurity in Mauritania -Cites AQIM, drugs, & arms dealers from Polisario
Carnegie Paper, The Drivers of Insecurity in Mauritania, Anouar Boukhars (Washington, DC, April 2012) — The trans-Saharan region is emerging as a hotbed of instability and insecurity. A confluence of forces, from the revolts in North Africa and the proliferation of weapons to transnational trafficking of illicit goods and terrorist activity led by Al-Qaeda in [...]
Western Sahara: Time to Make Peace, Not Just Keep It – Robert M. Holley
April 30, 2012 On Tuesday, April 24 the UN Security Council unanimously kicked the Western Sahara issue down the road for yet another year (sigh) when it once again renewed the mandate for its peacekeeping mission in the region, MINURSO, with little more than further encouragement that the parties continue to cooperate with the Secretary [...]
Failed states are multiplying – al-Qaeda, Polisario camps a ‘toxic’ mix in Sahara – W. Post
Washington Post, by Jennifer Rubin (Washington, DC, April 25, 2012) –There is a new and troubling trend in the Middle East and Africa: failed and/or nonfunctioning states. In March Anouar Boukhars of the Carnegie Endowment for International peace wrote: “The Western Sahara, a former Spanish territory annexed by Morocco despite Algerian objections, is a critical [...]
Report documents Polisario camps as recruiting ground for al-Qaeda in Sahara
SPOTLIGHT Report & Chronology, Moroccan American Center for Policy (Washington, DC, April 24, 2012) — As the takeover of Mali’s historic Timbuktu by al-Qaeda and other militants highlights volatility in Africa’s Sahara/Sahel, a new report documents how refugee camps run by the separatist Polisario Front near Tindouf, Algeria have become a recruiting ground for [...]
