WASHINGTON — The Foreign Policy Research Institute reported that Morocco's King Mohammed could be threatened by a dissident prince who lives in the United States.
The Philadelphia-based institute asserted that Prince Hisham was forming alliances with opposition figures, including Islamists.
"Prince Hisham, a relative of the king based in Princeton, N.J., appears to espouse an alternative to the monarchy, more along the lines of the Tunisian regime under Bin Ali or the present regime in Syria," the report, titled "The Moroccan Exception," said.Authored by researcher and broadcaster Ahmed Charai, the report said Hisham has formed an alliance with Islamist leader Nadia Yassine, head of the Justice and Charity Movement. Hisham has declared that Moroccans should not fear an Islamic takeover.
"Prince Hisham has enlisted a small number of sympathetic journalists to help make his case," the report said.
So far, the prince has decided to remain in the United States and help organize opposition to the Moroccan royal family. At this point, the prince was not said to comprise a major threat to the North African kingdom.
Charai said Morocco has so far avoided the massive unrest of its neighbors in Egypt and Tunisia. He said the Moroccan government remains stable and the king, in power since 1999, continues to be popular.
"Today in Morocco, the streets are relatively free of mass demonstrations for the simple reason that young people have numerous other outlets to register their disapproval of government policies and even the system of government itself," the report said. "Public debate is widely aired in the country's robust, privately owned media in which even debates over the power of the king are no longer taboo."
Still, the report warned that Morocco would continue to rely on Western support amid economic difficulties. The kingdom has also been hampered by widespread corruption, poverty, inadequate medical care, a housing shortage and Islamic extremism.
"This environment has also contributed to the flourishing of illicit industries, such as illegal immigration to Europe and massive drug trafficking; together with the problem of terrorism," the report said.
No comments:
Post a Comment