Sunday, February 20, 2011

"Freedom, dignity and justice", the cry of the demonstrators in Morocco

Thousands of people have started to meet in Casablanca and Rabat with the intention to launch a peaceful demonstration for political reforms and a limitation on the powers of the king. In Casablanca, the demonstrators chanted "Freedom, Dignity and Justice" as well as "less power to the monarchy", "The king should reign and not rule" and "the people want a new constitution," reports AFP.

In Rabat, the capital, about four thousand people gather in the plaza Bad Alhad at the gates of the Medina. Shouted the slogans that are similar to those in Casablanca, in French and Arabic. The atmosphere is relaxed and concentration, in which symbols are not Islamists, social classes are mixed but mostly people are middle class families with children and young people.

Other cities like Fez, Tangier and Marrakech, are also living levels, all with the same objective: to seek constitutional reforms and the resignation of the government. The police, for now, is relatively quiet and on the frontline. The Executive holds its breath before the protests called by the social network Facebook, in fifteen cities which include the largest in the country.

The fact is unprecedented for the first time, citizens demand democracy, an end to corruption and the resignation of the Government and speculates on how many people take to the streets or how to react security forces, which by nightfall was being deployed yesterday. Communications over the Internet are very limited and it is not possible to monitor the demonstrations through the television channel Al Jazeera, as its broadcast was suspended.

Police prevents access to road and Rabat also maintains a control on the bridge linking the capital and Sale, a bastion of Justice and Charity, Islamic party. Several hundred young people anticipated the call and took to the streets yesterday in Tangiers (northern Morocco), on Friday night, instigated by the Moroccan branch of ATTAC anti-globalization movement, which calls for the imposition of taxes on international financial transactions .

Their protest began with a sit in the Place des Nations, but then tried to march through the center of the city and ran into a police barrier. The youths smashed the moons of dozens of vehicles and stoned a police station, but their main goal were symbols of foreign companies that signed major contracts with the city of Tangier, beginning with the French AMENDIS, a subsidiary of Veolia, which provides light and drinkable water from the city.

UIDELINES a bus (from Madrid Ruiz Group) and trucks MedTech (Urbaser affiliate) which collects the waste, were also attacked. A 40 km south of Tangier, in Asilah, Mohamed Benaissa, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco, was scared to death when dozens of youths threw stones at his home whose first door forced.

They shouted: "That fall Benaissa!", To paraphrase a slogan chanted against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. The police broke up the merger. In the hours leading up to Sunday in Facebook youth organizers have sought new members to the call for protests, especially from the unions in many of the provinces, which are added to the youths of the main Islamist movement, small parties Left and NGOs.

Also detected among its followers some concern about the risk of vandalism recorded in Tangier today can tarnish the whole protest. The scheme includes related news, however, with big headlines rejection manifested by the national leadership of the unions, the government coalition parties as well as more moderate Islamists as well as numerous associations.

The official MAP news agency announced even cover three of inspiring young people protest in Facebook's called off to avoid being exploited with "illegitimate purposes." The authorities thwarted a rally in Algeria while Morocco protest population in Algeria the authorities managed to defeat again yesterday, with hardly been fighting, the second major attempt by the opposition manifested this month.

The regime seems to have drawn the second challenge posed by their opponents. The massive deployment of riot police almost aborted yesterday for the second time so far this month, the demonstration called by the Coordinator which includes the bulk of the opposition. To achieve this, the police closed with metal barriers to access of May Square, space provided in the call where barely managed to get between 800 and 1,000 protesters, fewer than the previous weeks, according to eyewitnesses.

There they were surrounded by thousands of police. One of them dealt a blow to the belly Besbes Tahar, deputy of the opposition, which fell to the floor with his head hit the curb. Last night I was admitted in serious condition in hospital. The physical pressure was exerted on concentrated riot in the square was such that, according to Agence France Presse, Rachid Malaoui, leader of the independent trade union officials, he lost consciousness.

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