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| Africa North |
| Morocco forum proposes new approach to fighting terrorism |
| 2009-05-03 |
| [Maghrebia] A Moroccan NGO and a global Christian organisation recently joined forces for a Casablanca forum on how non-governmental groups can support the fight against terrorism. The Forum for Dignity in Human Rights (FDDH) and Pax Christi International invited contributors from various Arab countries to meet on Saturday (April 25th) to discuss the "reconciliatory approach and its importance in settling the issue of terrorism". Both FFDH and Pax Christi International hold that dialogue and persuasion are the tools that must be used to fight terrorism. "Pax Christi has been working for a year to encourage civil society, both internationally and in Morocco, to take the initiative in finding other solutions in the fight against terrorism," Pax Christi representative Gijsbert Van Iterson Scholten told Magharebia. "We're a movement for peace and we believe it's important for civil society to be an actor in these debates," he added. "We organised this chance to think about the issue, inviting other Arab countries that have adopted a reconciliatory approach to contribute their experiences." FDDH Chairman Mustafa Ramid stated that the meeting intended to draw Moroccan authorities' attention to the importance of opening up a dialogue with Salafists, with the aim of fighting terrorism. "In Saudi Arabia, there are two processes for dialogue with terrorist supporters," said Nawaf El Kadimi, a journalist. The first involves advisory committees whose members speak with imprisoned terrorists. The second process involves young graduates of Sharia schools who seek to challenge the beliefs of participants of some 200 extremist web sites and forums. "This operation was more fruitful that the actions undertaken by the interior ministry," said El Kadimi. Nabil Abdelfatah, from the Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Study and Research in Egypt, explained that the State was the one to launch the process of engaging in dialogue with different movements, with good results. "We think that the security approach is not the way to fight terrorism," stated Ramid. "While this approach has a beneficial side, which is improving State security, it can claim many victims, particularly because of trials where some of the elements of due process are missing." It is therefore necessary to combine the security approach with a reconciliatory one, to allow debate with all those who have been sentenced as part of the fight against terrorism, he added. Ramid stressed that a distinction should be made between Salafist detainees who have committed terrorist acts, those who hold extremist views but have never put them into action, and individuals who once held extremist views but have since changed their views. Former Salafist detainee, Abdelali Alam was keen to speak about the reconciliatory approach. He said that a great many of the detainees have never committed a crime. "Now ideological crimes can only be combated with ideas," he said. In Morocco, however, "the conditions for such a dialogue are not yet in place", argued Mohamed Darif, an expert in politics and a specialist in Islamist movements. "The State does not seem to be ready." Darif explained that the Salafists are not organised in such a way that they could put forward a representative to speak to the State, as has been the Egyptian experience. Furthermore, some Salafist groups in Morocco do not advocate the use of terrorism to defend their ideas. Rather, Darif stressed, "They feel it is the state which must change its position towards them." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Both FFDH and Pax Christi International hold that dialogue and persuasion are the tools that must be used to fight terrorism. Fucking Morons. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-05-03 13:32 |
| #1 Or we could kill the terrorists. I like that idea better. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-05-03 09:19 |