Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08RABAT416
2008-05-09 12:45:00
SECRET
Embassy Rabat
Cable title:  

MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT SUSPENDS AL-JAZEERA BROADCASTS

Tags:  PHUM KPAO SCUL OIIP KIRC PGOV MO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9656
OO RUEHDE RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRB #0416/01 1301245
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 091245Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8541
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0404
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4776
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0609
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0090
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0556
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2358
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 0724
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA 0863
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3602
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5973
RUEHMK/AMEMBASSY MANAMA 1037
RUEHMS/AMEMBASSY MUSCAT 0142
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 5025
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 0695
RUEHYN/AMEMBASSY SANAA 1227
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 3530
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0307
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9614
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 4068
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0137
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 2236
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1944
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 RABAT 000416 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/PPD AND NEA/MAG
LONDON FOR MOC
DUBAI FOR PELLETIER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2018
TAGS: PHUM KPAO SCUL OIIP KIRC PGOV MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT SUSPENDS AL-JAZEERA BROADCASTS
FROM RABAT

REF: 07 RABAT 1799

Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 RABAT 000416

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/PPD AND NEA/MAG
LONDON FOR MOC
DUBAI FOR PELLETIER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2018
TAGS: PHUM KPAO SCUL OIIP KIRC PGOV MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT SUSPENDS AL-JAZEERA BROADCASTS
FROM RABAT

REF: 07 RABAT 1799

Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: The Government of Morocco (GOM) claims that
its sudden decision to suspend Al-Jazeera's right to transmit
its nightly Maghreb news broadcast from Rabat came as a
result of Al-Jazeera's long-standing failure to secure a
proper broadcast license. Most independent observers
discount this technical explanation, offering a variety of
possible political reasons for the GOM's action, including
that Fouad Ali El Himma was behind the decision due to his
pique over commentary critical of his political followers.
The practical impact of the GOM's decision is very limited,
however; Al-Jazeera continues to report freely from Morocco
and indeed is using its nightly Maghreb news bulletin )
currently airing directly from Doha ) to broadcast
commentary and interviews slamming the GOM for its decision.
The only short-term implication is that Al-Jazeera cannot
broadcast its Maghreb news from its Rabat studio. End
summary.

--------------
Al-Jazeera Maghreb News Bulletin Suspended
--------------


2. (U) On May 6, Al-Jazeera reported that the Moroccan
authorities had suspended its license to broadcast from
Rabat. Notification occurred four hours before the Tuesday
evening broadcast was to be aired, via a fax from the
National Agency for Telecommunications Regulation (ANRT) to
Al-Jazeera's Rabat headquarters. The fax cited technical
reasons, without providing further details. Al-Jazeera had
been broadcasting a nightly hour of news focused on North
Africa at 2200 GMT since November 2006.


3. (U) Up to and including the day of the launch of the
Maghreb news bulletin in late November 2006, Al-Jazeera was
not positive that the Government of Morocco (GOM) would
permit the broadcast to proceed. The dispute revolved (and
continues to revolve) around the nature of Al-Jazeera's
presence. Under Morocco's new broadcast law, any entity

(foreign or domestic) wishing to broadcast from Morocco must
incorporate a local company, and submit a license request to
the Higher Audiovisual Communication Authority (HACA) for
approval. The submission must include a "cahiers des
charges" (terms of reference),which inter alia outlines the
type of programming to be broadcast. (Note: after the
broadcast law was passed, the USG had to go through this
process to secure a license for Radio Sawa to operate
locally, a process that took over a year. End note.)


4. (U) From the beginning, Al-Jazeera contended that the
broadcast law did not apply, as Al-Jazeera was transmitting
the Maghreb news bulletin from its headquarters in Doha, even
though the studio and the announcers were in Rabat. The GOM
never accepted this technical loophole, but did not prevent
Al-Jazeera from launching its new broadcast. Since then, the
GOM has provided a succession of provisional three-month
licenses, while renewing its demand for Al-Jazeera to
formalize its presence.


5. (U) Following the May 6 decision, the GOM was initially
unwilling to provide further information about the

RABAT 00000416 002 OF 004


suspension. On May 8, however, a Moroccan daily with ties to
the Government quoted Communications Minister and Government
Spokesperson as saying that Al-Jazeera's broadcast had been
"suspended, not banned." He stated that "the suspension has
technical causes; it is imperative for Al-Jazeera to
regularize its legal and technical situation with HACA."
Naim Kamal, a prominent journalist and HACA board member,
provided the same explanation. He cited a legal complication
in Al-Jazeera's case, however, wondering whether it would be
possible to limit its terms-of-reference to apply only to one
hour of programming a day, when the channel broadcasts 24
hours a day throughout the world.

--------------
Political Theories Abound
--------------


6. (S) Neither Al-Jazeera nor the independent press is
buying the GOM claim that the suspension was purely
technical. Al-Jazeera has long had a testy relationship with
the GOM (and indeed the local media in general),coming under
fire for reporting on issues ranging from Moroccan elections
to Western Sahara. Since the launch in 2006, there have been
repeated rumors that the GOM was on the verge of closing down
Al-Jazeera and/or evicting its Dutch/Morocco bureau chief
Hassan Rachidi, most recently in November 2007 amidst
allegations that Rachidi had been in contact with Al-Qaida in
the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) leadership (reftel). Most
analysts therefore believe that the recent GOM decision was
politically motivated.


7. (SBU) What precipitated the move is hotly contested,
however. The most common explanation, posited by analysts on
Al-Jazeera and by several Moroccan dailies, is that the GOM
was piqued over commentary made by veteran Egyptian
journalist Mohamed Haykal, host of a weekly program on
Al-Jazeera entitled "Ma'a Haykal" (With Haykal). Haykal,
long a virulent critic of the late King Hassan II, used his
show last week to air old accusations about Hassan II's
historical ties to Israel, and his alleged collaboration with
French authorities in the kidnapping of Algerian resistance
figures in the 1950s.


8. (S) A second theory ) advanced in print on April 8 by
independent daily Al-Massae ) revolves around a recent
Al-Jazeera interview with Adellatif Hosni, publisher of the
Moroccan magazine "Wijhat Nadar." Hosni lashed out at
Moroccan political leaders who have aligned themselves with
the political movement of Parliamentarian Fouad Ali Al Himma,
calling them "luqata'" (an Arabic word meaning "orphans," but
with derogatory connotations, such as "bastards"). Without
citing this specific broadcast, a Gulfi businessman with
media ties told Ambassador Riley that El Himma was behind the
closure.


9. (C) Taoufiq Bouachrine, editor-in-chief of Al-Massae,
wrote that it was an accumulation of coverage, including the
items cited above, that led to the GOM's decision. However,
Reda Benjelloun, producer for 2m television, told us there
was no political motivation, noting that the GOM had
weathered substantial critical coverage from Al-Jazeera for
years, and none of the recent stories had been substantively
any different.


RABAT 00000416 003 OF 004


--------------
Next Steps for AJ
--------------


10. (SBU) Al-Jazeera Rabat bureau chief Rachidi told us that
Al-Jazeera will pursue the licensing procedures demanded by
the GOM (indeed, he told Reporters without Borders that
Al-Jazeera had already submitted the license request, but
HACA had not yet acted on it). He had been unable to get the
GOM to provide a specific reason for the suspension beyond
the technical one, and hoped it was only a warning.
"Considering the way it was been presented to us," he said,
"I don't think there will be a turning back." In the
meantime, Al-Jazeera would be relying on its bureau in
Mauritania to manage the Maghreb news bulletin.


12. (SBU) Ironically, Al-Jazeera had only days earlier taken
an editorial decision to advance its Maghreb news bulletin by
one half hour and incorporate it into its prime-time "Harvest
of the Day" news broadcast, which begins at 2000 GMT and
reportedly has a nightly audience of 16 million. This
decision came after Al-Jazeera had received numerous
complaints from North African viewers that the 2200 GMT
broadcast time was too late for most North African viewers
(for whom it started at 2300 local time or later).

--------------
Harsh Press Commentary
--------------


13. (SBU) Al-Jazeera is having a field day with this event,
broadcasting commentary from Moroccan political analysts as
well as numerous man-on-the-street interviews critical of the
GOM decisions, and favorable towards Al-Jazeera's decision to
devote an hour of news to the Maghreb. Moroccan print media
commentary, albeit very limited, has also criticized the GOM
decision. For example, Islamist daily Attajdid wrote in an
April 8 editorial: "It seems that some circles do not care if
Morocco makes reforms towards democracy. It seems that those
who decided on the ban have not (thought) seriously about the
implications of the decision. What if Libya and Algeria were
to exploit that decision and host Al-Jazeera on their own
territories? What a shock it would be to Moroccans if
Al-Jazeera moved its bureau to Nouakchott!!"

--------------
Comment
--------------


14. (C) The truth of this story most likely resides
somewhere in the middle between technical and political.
There is no doubt that the GOM wants Al-Jazeera to be
properly licensed, as this would bring its broadcasts (and
possible not just those from Rabat) under the regulatory
auspices of HACA, providing a point of reference for any
future legal proceedings. For example, Al-Jazeera would be
required to follow HACA guidelines guaranteeing equitable
coverage during Moroccan elections, something Al-Jazeera was
exempt from during the 2007 national elections. Arguing in
favor of this technical explanation is the fact that the GOM
has taken no steps to prevent Al-Jazeera from conducting and
broadcasting critical interviews with Moroccans, from
Morocco. Thus the GOM is allowing Al-Jazeera to air far more
regular and sharp criticism of the GOM than had recently been

RABAT 00000416 004 OF 004


broadcast.


15. (C) That said, it is difficult to imagine the decision
was purely technical. While Al-Jazeera had been warned to
regularize its presence, it had been given no deadline and
had never been told that suspension was imminent. It seems
likely the GOM used the technical question to fire a shot
across Al-Jazeera's bow, most likely precipitated by the
criticism of Al Himma's followers. This fits in with the
GOM's modus operandi with regard to the press: allow a great
deal of freedom of expression, while providing regular
reminders that the GOM has the power to yank (sharply) on the
leash whenever it wants. End comment.


*****************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
*****************************************

Riley