Committee: Global Security Committee
Topic: Terrorism
Country: Morocco
The director-general of Moroccan security, General Hamidu Laanigri told the French newspaper Le Figaro that Morocco did not produce terrorism, but the fact that many of those involved in the bombings of Casablanca and Madrid were Moroccan does not speak well toward that comment. The Moroccan government depends largely on tourist revenues to boost the economy. When tourists travel to Morocco these days, they encounter an increase in the presence and profile of security personnel at airports and bus stations. The average Moroccan citizen understands and accepts the purpose of the highly visible authority, but to a foreign tourist the increase in security is a disturbing reminder of terrorism, this results in a decrease of revenue from tourism. Aside from economic problems this also emphasizes religious conflict and a false sense of security. “These threats have brought about large-scale losses of life, the destruction of property, widespread illness and injury, the displacement of large numbers of people, and devastating economic loss.” (FEMA)
In March of 2003 in the large city of Casablanca, Morocco, their were a series of suicide bombings where a total of 33 innocent citizens died. These attacks also emphasized religious conflict in Morocco because all of the bombings were directed toward Jewish community centers. Another example of Terrorism that Morocco was involved with, were the bombings of a Madrid train station in 2004. In Madrid a seies of coordinated bombings took place in a public train station, where 191 people died and 1,800 people were injured. The man accused guilty of the physical carrying out of the attack Moroccan, supposedly part of al-Qaeda.
In May 19, 2008 Morocco applied their comprehensive counterterrorism strategy, which not only emphasizes identifying and neutralizing existing terrorist threats through traditional law enforcement and security measures, but also...