Rabat, – “Morocco has been involved in all the fights for the Sahel and with the Sahel,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr. Nasser Bourita, in his speech on the occasion of the first ministerial meeting of the International Coalition for the Sahel, held Friday by videoconference.
“The Moroccan approach is based on a vision outlined by His Majesty King Mohammed VI from the very beginning of His reign. Humane above all, it is revolved around an inseparable triptych: security, human development and training,” said Mr. Bourita.
“Indeed, the security dimension, although insufficient on its own, remains necessary,” the Minister insisted, noting that “Morocco’s experience in intelligence and counter-terrorism has always been made available to Morocco’s partners at the regional and international levels”.
This experience is now “recognized and appreciated by all allies, brothers and friends of the Kingdom,” he added, stressing that in the Sahel region, Morocco “supports the setting up of the G5 Sahel Defense College in Nouakchott and dedicates 203 training places each year in Moroccan military establishments”.
Finally, “officers of the Royal Armed Forces provide support beyond our region and are notably placed at the disposal of the School of Peacekeeping Alioune Blondin Beye to deliver short modules”.
“Human development, the key to the sustainability of action against terrorism, is at the heart of Moroccan action,” added Mr. Bourita, noting that precariousness, unemployment and lack of education form the “breeding ground for terrorism” and that “creating wealth means impoverishing terrorism and depriving it of its most compelling arguments”.
“It is by making this choice, the choice of investing in socio-economic and human development, that Morocco sees a lasting solution to terrorism,” he noted.
“The dimension of training is just as fundamental”, inasmuch as “it immunizes minds and hearts through the promotion of an authentic, tolerant and moderate Islam. This is the guarantee of Morocco, through the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Mourchidines and Mourchidates,” Mr. Bourita said.
In this regard, the Minister noted that “today, more than 93% of foreign students (937 out of 1,002), enrolled in the Institute’s training courses for the year 2018-2019, are from ECOWAS countries and Chad”.
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