Even though one explosion on March 11 marked three years to the date of the ghastly Madrid bombings, vigilance by Morocco's security services prevented greater damage. Since five suicide bombings that killed 45 people in Morocco in May 2003, police have pursued an unprecedented crackdown on suspected militants.

Thousands of potential terrorists and their allies -- including some accused of working with al-Qaida affiliates to plot attacks in Morocco and abroad -- have been arrested. While strengthening security, Morocco has continued with economic and social reforms.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco is modernizing, forward-thinking and energetic. Over the past five years he has implemented remarkable reforms in this Northern African country. The King has focused on literacy, healthcare, poverty and economic equality.

In January 2006 a ratified free-trade agreement with Morocco made it the first country in Africa to have an FTA with the United States. Hassan Abouyoub, the former trade minister and chief foreign policy adviser to the king, has described it "as the best market access package of any emerging economy in the world." Trade between Morocco and the United States is about $1 billion per year.

At the first briefing of its type to the king's Cabinet, Global Panel and the Prague Society brought ranking members of the Cabinet together with leaders from the Czech Republic, Germany, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Morocco Strategic Initiative represented business, the legislature, military, security, ministers and the NGO sector.

Over four days, ideas were brainstormed and later presented to the King's counsel, interior minister, the national security adviser, the deputy interior and foreign ministers and the head of the local government council.

Morocco is roughly the size of France (including Western Sahara) and California (or Sweden) excluding Western Sahara. It lies just 45 miles from Spain, just across the Strait of Gibraltar, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. The northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas of plateaus.

The rest of the country is inter-mountainous valleys and rich coastal planes. The highest point is Jbel Toubkal in the High Atlas Mountains at around 13,745 feet -- 700 feet shorter than California's Mount Whitney -- making it the highest peak in northern Africa.

Morocco has a population of 32 million. Life expectancy is around 70 years -- comparable to the west. Morocco's population is young: The average age is 24; the U.S. average is 36. Ninety-eight percent are Muslim -- Judaism, Islam and Christianity have lived peacefully together for thousands of years. Berber, Arabic and French are the principal spoken languages. Berber culture dates back some 4,000 years -- predating Arabic culture in Morocco.

A crucial date will be the Sept. 7 national elections. In the past, Islamists and their allies could count on up to 30 percent of the vote, but not 30 percent of the seats. If they fall to 20 percent, it will be a sure sign that reforms in Morocco are working. Global Panel and the Prague Society are committed to joining international election-monitoring teams, the same ones that have monitored U.S. elections.

Morocco is particularly interested in issues surrounding the Mediterranean basin. Morocco has free-trade agreements with Spain, France and Italy but would like to expand these agreements. The revitalization of the Barcelona Process is a key goal.

The Barcelona Process (Euro-Mediterranean Partnership) began in 1995. An ambitious initiative, it calls for a framework of political, social and economic relations between the European Union and Partners of the Southern Mediterranean: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Cyprus and Malta are now also members of the EU.

The Barcelona Declaration laid foundations for a common security area, a common economic zone (free-trade area) and rapprochement between the various cultures of the zone.

A key issue that has long dogged Morocco is the Western Sahara. Moroccan Western Sahara has been on the list of U.N. non-self-governing territories since 1960, even though the restoration to Morocco by Spain in 1975 was legal. Since 1991 there has been a cease-fire in place between the Moroccan government, the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Most of the territory -- among the most sparsely populated worldwide -- is controlled by Morocco. International powers have generally taken an ambiguous and neutral position and have pushed for a peaceful resolution.

As with most territorial issues, the United Nations' involvement has been mostly ineffective, even counterproductive. It would be best to remove the issue from the U.N. agenda and allow the principal parties to negotiate amongst themselves -- with external help from foreign experts, should the need arise.

Morocco is an inspiring and key emerging democracy. She just needs to do a better job of promoting her marvelous story.

earlier related report

Morocco's dual offensive
by Claude Salhani
UPI International Editor Washington (UPI) April 16 - As Morocco faces renewed violence from terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaida, authorities have counter-attacked by launching a dual assault: anti-terror police operations to thwart the Islamist terrorists and a political campaign aimed at resolving the long-standing dispute over Western Sahara.

On April 10 U.S. State Department Undersecretary Nicholas Burns met with a senior Moroccan delegation to discuss the Western Sahara issue, while at the same time an autonomy proposal was delivered by the Moroccans to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

El Mostafa Sahel, the new permanent representative of Morocco to the United Nations, told United Press International that the proposal came in "reply to the international community."

"Morocco has come up with a new proposal," said the diplomat. "There is something new, to put hand in hand to build something, to build peace in agreement with the people of the Sahara," he said.

The Moroccan ambassador told UPI said he fears a continuation of the conflict would benefit al-Qaida. Although there are no links between the two conflicts, continued unrest in Western Sahara can only benefit the terrorists.

Indeed, al-Qaida has re-emerged in Morocco last week by staging a series of suicide attacks, the latest resulting in the death of only the attackers.

Sahel said that Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization has established a base of operation in southern Algeria from where they can hit targets in the Maghreb and from there in Europe.

Al-Qaida's activities in the Maghreb are "very, very serious," the Moroccan ambassador said. "These are very dangerous groups who have lots of money from the traffic of arms and cigarettes and people and drugs. They have money, they have people and they have a philosophy."

Meanwhile, Moroccan officials have arrested two men suspected of leading the group that carried out the recent suicide attacks in Casablanca. Security experts believe the two are connected to a series of explosions in Casablanca last week and in March.

Moroccan police arrested the men Saturday, soon after two suicide bombers detonated their explosives belts in Casablanca, in a street where the U.S. cultural center and the U.S. Consulate are located.

Security in the area prevented the attackers from reaching their targets, who ended up killing only themselves and wounding a woman passerby. Authorities identified one of the dead bombers as Mohamed Maha. Another suspected terrorist was wearing an explosives belt at the time of his arrest.

Last week a man blew himself up when police broke into an apartment in the course of their investigation into the March 11 suicide bombing at an Internet cafe in Casablanca that wounded four people. Police shot and killed a second suspect before he could detonate his explosives. A third man fled and later blew himself up.

The re-emerging problems with al-Qaida might partially explain why after decades of stagnation, Morocco is re-launching a diplomatic offensive to pacify once and for all the crisis in the Sahara, which since it has occupied after the departure of the Spanish has remained like a desert thorn in Morocco's side.

Burns called Morocco's initiative "a serious and credible proposal to provide real autonomy for the Western Sahara." The United States hopes Morocco's initiative will create an opportunity for Morocco and the Polisario, a Sahrawi rebel movement working for the separation of Western Sahara from Morocco, to engage in direct negotiations, without preconditions, to resolve the Western Sahara dispute.

The proposal calling for negotiating autonomy for the Sahara Region includes a Moroccan commitment to a final political solution through a "positive, constructive and dynamic process" aimed at bringing autonomy to the Sahara, "within the framework of the kingdom's sovereignty and national unity."

The initiative says it would guarantee individual freedoms, raise economic and social development and bring hope for a better future to the region's populations by putting an end to separation and exile and promoting reconciliation.

The Moroccan initiative calls for a referendum at the outcome of the negotiations and calls on the other parties "to avail the opportunity to write a new chapter in the region's history."

Morocco guarantees Sahrawis inside and outside the territory to play a leading role in the bodies and institutions of the region, without discrimination or exclusion.

"The Sahara populations will themselves run their affairs democratically, through legislative, executive and judicial bodies enjoying exclusive powers. They will have the financial resources needed for the region's development in all fields, and will take an active part in the nation's economic, social and cultural life," the initiative suggests.

Morocco, however, wants to retain power in the "royal domains," especially in regards to defense, external relations and the constitutional and religious prerogatives of the king.

In short, the initiative would mean acceptance of Morocco's sovereignty over the territory, a fact that the Polisario rejects.

"That is unacceptable," Ahmed Boukhari, the Polisario's U.N. representative, told UPI. "The Moroccan initiative says this territory, the Western Sahara, is Moroccan. They are saying this territory is mine."

The Polisario also presented the same day their proposal to the U.N. secretary-general. It is based on calling for a referendum as well, but unlike Morocco's initiative, the Polisario's offers three solutions: autonomy, independence or full integration.

The United Nations has rejected both proposals and has called for direct negotiations between the two parties.

"We are back at square zero," Boukhari said.

(UPI Columnist Marc S. Ellenbogen is chairman of the Global Panel Foundation and president of the Prague Society. A venture capitalist with seats in Berlin and Prague, he is a member of the National Advisory Board of the U.S. Democratic Party. e-mail: [email protected])

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