Rabat- The World Justice Project revealed its annual report on the Rule of Law. The 2014 report assesses 99 countries’ performances in different domains of justice. Morocco ranks 52^nd overall in the organization’s Rule of Law index for 2014.

The regional assessment of the index showcases a quite positive image of Morocco saying, “Morocco showed the most improvement in the region in the past year."

Morocco ranked 52^nd globally and 5^th among income peer countries and the MENA region. The MENA region’s ranking is topped by the UAE (27^th), followed by Jordan (38^th), Tunisia (41^st) and Lebanon (49^th). Egypt ranked 74^th and Iran in the 82^nd place."

The World of Justice Project report added, “Despite the progress achieved by Morocco, substantial challenges remain in the dimensions of protection of fundamental rights (ranking 84^th and 19^th  among income peers) and control of corruption (ranking 62nd)."

“The civil justice system ranks 51^st overall and the criminal justice system 81st, mainly due to due process violations, harsh conditions at correctional facilities, and political interference,” the report notes.  

However, there are significant achievements of the country in other areas of justice, according to the same report.

For instance, Morocco’s remarkable efforts are clearly seen at the level of “ongoing reforms in the areas of open government security (ranking 44^th overall and 8^th among income peers) and regulatory enforcement (ranking 36^th globally and 3^rd among income peers). Morocco also outperforms most lower-middle income countries in the area of constraints on government powers (ranking 46^th overall and 6^th among income peers).”

Edited by Zahra El Alami

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Geneva- Special UN Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, thanked on Monday Morocco for its "cooperation and its ongoing efforts" to implement the recommendations in connection with the fight against this phenomenon.

Presenting his report to the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Mendez welcomed the cooperation of the Kingdom with the special procedures and the mechanisms established by the HRC on thematic issues in the world, or the specific situation of a country.

"I want to thank Morocco for its openness to future cooperation," said the UN official who also welcomed the government's invitation for a follow-up visit in 2014.

In his report on the situation in the Kingdom presented last year at the UNHRC, the UN Rapporteur highlighted "the emergence of a culture of human rights", and welcomed the good conditions in which his mission took place in Morocco.

Geneva- Morocco lauded, on Monday in Geneva, the constructive interaction with the UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez, reaffirming the Kingdom's resolute and effective commitment to fighting torture.

 Speaking at the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Morocco's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Omar Hilale, reiterated the determination of the kingdom to cooperate with UN mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights, including the special procedures.

 The recommendations by Mendez have all interest necessary for their implementation as part of the national action plan for the implementation of recommendations by UN human rights mechanisms, said the diplomat shortly after the submission of the Special rapporteur's report.

 The Kingdom also welcomes the dialogue established within this framework through two working sessions held by Moroccan officials with the international expert and the progress report submitted by Morocco in January, he said.

Rabat - Minister of Economy and Finance, Mohamed Boussaid called Monday in Rabat on U.S. business leaders to seize the business opportunities offered by Morocco, highlighting the strong relations between the two countries.

invites you to be one of the major trading partners of our country, and seize all the opportunities available to us in the West African region that is witnessing unprecedented growth and development, and wherein Morocco plays a leading role," he said at the opening session of the 2nd Moroccan-American Business Development Conference.

"Our clear objective is to increase U.S. investment in Morocco and involve U.S. companies in the dynamic of growth in our country, which has shown significant resilience to all kinds of crises," said Boussaid, who highlighted the important assets of the Kingdom.

The minister also highlighted Morocco's stability and its clear and effective response to the crises that shook many of its neighboring countries, and the leading political and economic role it plays in Africa. Welcoming the "good relations" between the two countries, Boussaid stressed Morocco's determination to take "the utmost benefit" of its geostrategic location "as a platform of production, export, and investment" toward other markets, especially with its African partners.

Rabat-  The fifth Moroccan-Qatari Joint Committee was crowned, Tuesday in Rabat, with the signature of several cooperation agreements and Memorandums of understanding on different matters, as well as the minutes of this session, co-chaired by head of government Abdelilah Benkirane and Qatari Interior minister Sheikh Abdallah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani.

They are a partnership agreement on security, an agreement on air transportation, an agreement on cooperation and information sharing between Morocco's news agency (MAP) and Qatari counterpart (QNA), as well as Memorandums of understanding related to mutual recognition of certificates, in conformity with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, to social development and to the executive program of the youth cooperation agreement (years 2014-2015 and 2016).

The agreements seek to give momentum to bilateral cooperation in pivotal sectors and strengthen this cooperation to match the excellent ties between the two countries.

The MAP-QNA cooperation agreement, inked by head of the news agency Khalil Hachimi Idrissi and director of Arab affairs at the Qatari foreign affairs ministry Saad Lemhandi, provides for free-of-charge exchange of pictures and stories in Arabic and English.

New York (UN) -  Morocco participates in the 58th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, held on March 10-21 at the UN headquarters in New York, and which focuses on development, particularly education and reproductive rights.

The Moroccan delegation participating in the session is led by Bassima Hakkaoui, minister of solidarity, women, family, and social development.

In her remarks on Monday at a high level roundtable on "achievements and difficulties in achieving the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls," Hakkaoui  highlighted the achievements of Morocco, mainly the constitution of 2011, which recognizes the rights of women.

She also stressed the efforts of the Kingdom to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly regarding the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, economic and political empowerment of women, strengthening women's access to decision-making positions, and the fight against all forms of discrimination and violence.

Washington-  Thanks to its political stability which makes of it a model in the region, Morocco has become a coveted destination for US companies willing to invest in Morocco, said vice-president of African Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, Scott Eisner.

 Morocco has become a coveted destination for US investors, and the FTA which entered into effect in 2006, is a key factors that makes the kingdom an appealing destination for US businesses," Eisner told US magazine "International Business Times".

Scott Eisner also highlighted the multi-faceted partnership between Morocco and Sub-Saharan African countries, said the US magazine, which recalled the African tour of HM the King in Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Gabon, as well as the 4.8pc growth rate posted by the Moroccan economy in 2013.

"US businesses are interested in such a dynamic," says the US magazine, noting that US foreign direct investments into Morocco have witnessed a significant increase, from 25 million dollars in 2005 to 197 million dollars in 2012.

Brdo (Slovenia) -  Morocco and Spain announced Tuesday in Brdo (30 km north of Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia), the organization soon of a training session on the role of women in mediation in the Mediterranean.

The announcement was made by minister-delegate for foreign affairs and cooperation, Mbarka Bouaida and head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Garcia Margallo during the opening session of the third edition of the meeting on the Moroccan-Spanish initiative for mediation in the Mediterranean.

This third edition is organized by Slovenia whose deputy prime minister and foreign minister Karl Erjavec co-chairs this session alongside the Moroccan and Spanish officials.

The organization of this training, which comes under the Moroccan-Spanish MoU adopted at the second edition of mediation in the Mediterranean, held in Rabat in 2013, was entrusted to the Moroccan Centre for Studies and Research in Social Sciences (CERSS) and the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax).

Eabat- A sixty- year- old gravedigger was caught disentombing a grave after being bribed on Thursday night in the Bab Dekkala Cemetery in Marrakech, according to Al Massae.

A person who wanted to bury his family member closer to another acquaintance asked to buy the nearest grave for a large sum of money. The man did not hesitate to dig up the grave of a newborn that happened to be the closest.

“He was caught by a friend who could not tolerate such an act and immediately called the police after failing to convince the old man of forgetting the deal," Al-Massae reported.

From Marrakesh to Rabat, disentombing graves has continued to irritate people as a company has begun construction in the Sidi Kasem Nadori Cemetery in the Suisi neighborhood in Rabat.

The population of the Douars in Suisi also strongly protested a project to renovate the capitals’ cemeteries that has uncovered some tombs.

During a session held by a community council, local authorities asked Governor Abd Elouafi Leftit of Rabat to start investigating the issue. 

According to the same source, Mr. Leftit said that “the company did not have any legal authorization that limited the field of constructions. The ambiguous way through which it divided the land is suspicious." 

Al- Massae added that local people condemned the disentombments and remorsefully reburied the bodies.

Edited by Melissa Smyth

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By Ezzouber Jabrane

Casablanca- We all have seen how the abrupt political transformations in the Arab World did not bring the development and stability that many had promised. With the exception of Tunisia, the countries that experienced the 'Arab Spring' are currently facing bigger catastrophes than those caused by the removed tyrannical regimes.

One does not have to be a political analyst to logically deduce that the general conception that prevailed before the 'Arab Spring', in which dictators are the only barriers to the advancement of the Arab World, is ultimately erroneous.

In Morocco, the political reforms initiated by the king in 2011, though welcomed by the majority of Moroccans and applauded by the West, did not realize the progress needed at any level. Since neither revolutions nor political reforms succeeded, searching for the means to achieve development has haunted the collective consciousness of the Moroccans.

As a number of philosophers and intellectuals have argued , what the Muslim World needs today is a cultural revolution. In this respect, culture should be both a means and an end. Arts, literature, and imagination should be reclaimed and instrumentalized to wash out the remnants of colonialism that imposed alien life styles, percepts and values, and perplexed Muslims' culture and intelligence. The ideal is that regaining Arab and Muslim cultural coherence, will allow both the community and the individual to develop a sense confidence, moderated by self-criticism, that will create a healthy atmosphere for work and production. 

Europe itself woke up after centuries of passivity and did not need to overthrow its regimes. Emmanuel Kant, the prominent Prussian philosopher, in his famous essay “What is Enlightenment” explains that development is not the responsibility of politicians or leaders but rather produced and worked out by the common man. “Sapere audi !” -- Dare to know, Kant says to the layman, encouraging him simultaneously to produce and activate his sense of critical reasoning.  Consequently, the works of philosophers, artists and men of letters, followed by the common citizens, enriched the European cultural repertoire, and dragged leaders in its wake. It is a historical reality that the most effective revolutions are the silent revolutions. 

Going back to the Moroccan context, one can truly sense in society and social media a promising readiness among the youth to catch up with the developed nations. The truth is that we are not as passive and irresponsible as the older generations accuse us of being, and the proof is that we have brought a battalion of sterile social understandings and practices to an end. 

I assume that one of the most significant problems that we are currently confronting, however, is a widespread tendency amongst us to passive, unproductive criticism. We are all able to detect, by dint of our unprecedented openness to other cultures and horizons, our internal deficiencies and handicaps, but we do very little to remedy them. Instead of, at the very least, suggesting solutions to our society’s problems, we give shallow remarks that are easily swept away and forgotten. We all wish to click on a magic button and wake up the next day to find that the Earth has metamorphosed into heaven. However, the unfortunate reality it is that only work and production that can improve our situation.

The most substantial problem that we are facing, I believe, is the absence of models to follow. We all want to become significant actors in our society but the reason why we are so reluctant about it is because we lack models that stimulate our imagination. One would argue that when we have the intention to change, anything will do. But stumbling in every which way can be quite discouraging and besides, the intention is already there.

Unfortunately, the few channels that monopolize national television and radio pay absolutely no attention to this aspect. In lieu of presenting Moroccan success stories to the public and spotlighting the elements that lie behind their success so that people can follow their paths, the local media further bring to light YouTube sensations that poor youngsters watch due to the lack of alternatives. 

Given that the issue at hand is very complex and multifaceted, I do not attempt to prescribe any particular model of development. My intention is to encourage the reader to reflect on the topic, for I am extremely optimistic about the potential of the young generations and their capacity for genuine transformation in all respects.

As I alluded to earlier, it is paramount that we learn from history that mobilization against regimes and violent revolutions are not what will permit us to catch up with the developed nations and participate actively the global culture.

Change comes from within and unless we become more active and productive, we will keep wallowing in our negativity. Change is contingent on investing in culture and developing its constituents through great and effective production. And that, in turn, will be possible if we shed light on and understand what makes the dynamic participants in society achieve what they have achieved. 

Edited by Manon McGuigan

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy

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Rabat- Former member of jihad movement in Morocco, Issa Saber was sentenced to twenty-five years in jail for an alleged assassination. But after he spent over twenty years behind the bars, the real killer has admitted that he is innocent.

Finally, Issa Saber can breathe a sigh of relief. He was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, before he was released thanks to a royal pardon during his 20^th year in prison.

According to Al Massaa, everything started in 1985, when the court accused Issa of killing his boss in the jihad movement, Lahbib Adiif, in Nadour.

Yet Saber was innocent, and the real killer was his peer in the jihadist movement.

According to the same source, the real killer was recently arrested with a terrorist cell. Mohamed D. admitted that he was the murderer of Lahbib Adiif while the police were interrogating him. 

Mohamed D. explained that he had killed Lahbib under orders from the jihadist movement leader, Abdelazize Noamani’s, who had accused the victim of working for Spain.

Talking to Al Massaa, Issa Saber’s lawyer confirmed that he is to demand compensation from the court for 20 years he spent behind bars.

Edited by Jessica Rohan

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Casablanca- A young Moroccan housemaid has been imprisoned and raped by her employee in Saudi Arabia for three months now.

According to daily Assabah, a young Moroccan housemaid was enslaved and raped by her employer in Saudi Arabia.

The Moroccan housemaid had traveled to Saudi Arabia in November 2013, where she worked as a housemaid mainly taking care of a Saudi businessman's mother.

According to her family, the employer promised to pay a monthly salary of MAD 10,000 in exchange of the Moroccan woman's service.

After her three-month employment contract reached its end, the Saudi businessman refused to pay the Moroccan woman her salary and decided rather to take her passport, imprison her and make of her his "sexual slave."

The Moroccan victim's family subsequently referred to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Rabat and the Moroccan Consulate in Jeddah in hopes to save the young woman, but so far their efforts have been fruitless.  

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Kinshasa- The medal of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) was granted to the Moroccan blue helmets deployed in Dungu (DRC's eastern province) for their devotion and abnegation, sources from the UN mission said on Wednesday.

The decoration was handed at a ceremony organized recently at the headquarters of the Moroccan battalion's general staff in Dungu, at the end of the Moroccan blue helmets' successful mission.

Among the tasks entrusted to them, the Moroccan battalion led air patrols in the Dungu-Nagero-Faradje-Djabir-Aba-Dungu axis to assess the security situation and reassure civilians.

Rabat- Saudi Arabia has officially declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. According to the new Saudi “law”, any person who supports the Muslim Brotherhood could face up to 30 years in Jail.

The New York Times wondered in a news story if this decision is to extend to all the Islamist leaders, including Abdelilah Benkirane, the head of the Moroccan government and Secretary General of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD).

Recently, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain decided to withdraw their Ambassadors from Qatar, because of Doha’s alleged support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Jazeera channel’s coverage of Egypt, since former President Mohammed Morsi was toppled in July 2013.

But it is still unclear whether the KSA meant for the terrorist label to cover every affiliate or ally of the Brotherhood in the region, according to the New York Times.

That would concern many Islamist leaders who support the Muslim Brotherhood in the region, including Morocco’s Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane.

According to the same source, some analysts asked if the “Saudis would jail Islamist public officials from those countries if they visited, say, on a pilgrimage to Mecca.”

The Justice and Development Party in particular has close ties with Islamist groups in the region. In a clear move of support to the Brotherhood, PJD’s leaders hosted Mohamed Abouabor and Assim Shelbi, two Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood officials, a few weeks ago in Morocco.

During the opening of the Forum of the Youth of the the PJD last August in Casablanca, Abdelilah Benkirane appeared in a photo waving the finger sign of Rabia El Adaouia.

The photo caused a stir in Morocco and pushed the leaders of the opposition parties to question whether Benkirane was acting as the head of the Moroccan government or the head of his party.

Edited by Jessica Rohan

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Rabat- Some Moroccans are using social media to honor famous intellectuals who had been ‘put on the shelf’ in Morocco.

Over the centuries, Morocco has produced citizens who have excelled in many different fields. While some of them were lucky enough to gain recognition in their own country, others have had to wait for honors that may never come about. Therefore, many scientists, men and women of letters, intellectuals, and others have chosen to pursue their dreams abroad rather than remaining in a country that did not value their achievements!  

Moroccans are used to hearing about their intellectuals being honored abroad, understanding that other countries celebrate their success and achievements better. Many have written about the fact that Morocco does not celebrate its citizens’ expertise until they hear their names in foreign media or read about their achievements in international magazines.     

However, many Moroccan youth today represent a new sort of impressive power, taking advantage of all available resources to think outside the box and produce changes in their own society.

Following the example of the revolutionary role that social media played in the Arab Spring, Moroccans are back on track for an intellectual revolution. Many young Moroccans have humbly decided to publicly acknowledge the giants on whose shoulders they are standing.

In this vein, youths created a Facebook page, "Together to Honor Mahdi El Mandjra," calling Moroccans to acknowledge and honor the writer, futurist, economist, and sociologist. He held very important positions in significant academic institutions and NGOs in Morocco and abroad, such as University Mohammed V, UNDP, and UNESCO. He has produced many publications and over 500 articles in the humanities and social sciences. He was honored and decorated in different parts of the world, including Jordan, France, and Japan.

The individuals behind this initiative provided a description of El Mandjra’s contributions and eye-opening theories. El Mandjra is one of the most accomplished scientific personalities that has not received due credit, as his name was ‘put on the shelf.’  "However, as we are young and intellectual we will never forget it. We wish him a quick recovery,” reads a statement on the Facebook page.

The same source added that this page is "a call to recognize intellectuals, writers and important figure who offered their best to benefit humanity and their country.”

El Mandjra’s outspoken character, with which he voiced his intricate analysis of situations, was censored and Moroccans had limited access to his publications. 

Edited by Melissa Smyth

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Mohammed V Airport (Casablanca) - The police services at the Mohammed V International Airport arrested on Tuesday a sub-Saharan national who was trying to smuggle 3.2 kilograms of cocaine.

The drugs were hidden in the suitcase of the defendant who came from a Latin American country, head of the police at the airport, Abdelhadi Siba told the press. According to the same source, about 7.5 kg of cocaine were seized at the airport in less than a week.

Casablanca- According to daily La Vie Eco, a recent report by the Higher Commission of Planning (HCP) showed that the bulk of Moroccan working women are “relatively young” and hold no diplomas.

In rural areas, women aged 25 years old constitute 20% of the total number of working women, whereas in urban areas, women of the same age represent only 10%.

According to the same report, 57.7% of working women in Morocco are married, 30.7% are single and 11.7% are either widowed or divorced.

HCP’s report also shows that 7 working women out of 10 do not hold any degrees or diplomas, a figure reflecting 92.7% of working women in rural areas and 38.2% in urban areas.

According to the HCP, this situation is the result of the fact that women in rural areas are mostly employed in agricultural activities or as housekeepers.

According to the same source, 73.5% of women reported in 2012 having entered the job market at less than 15 years of age, whereas only 11.8% entered the job market at the same age or older.

HCP’s report lamented that this situation has a negative impact on the education of rural children, especially girls.

At the national level, the employment rate of men is 3 times higher than that of women, and is even 6 times higher in some regions, according to the same report.

“Regardless of their educational level, and compared to their male counterparts, women still have a harder time finding a job,” La Vie Eco quotes the report as saying

“The more educated women are, the fewer difficulties they face in entering the job market,” explained HCP’s report.

By Kamilia Morkanty - Casablanca

The first child always has a special influence on a couple’s relationship. This small creature has the ability to brighten one’s life and fill one’s heart with love and happiness. A child is a gift given by Allah to make one’s life happier, more meaningful and beautiful. Like any couple that is waiting for the birth of its first baby, my wife and I were consumed in dreams and impatient to see his eyes, smile, and to hear his laughter, first cry and first words. He would look like both of us, we thought; he would have the eyes and the smile of his mother and be tall like me. We would see him grow and give him a good education in order to be a good citizen, respected by everybody he would come into contact with. He would marry the most beautiful girl and live a happy life. We would live to see his kids, all of whom would be as cute as him. We dreamt of all these things every moment of each day and night.

We eagerly prepared everything in order to welcome our beloved baby home. We painted his room, bought him a bed, toys, clothes, and a bath. We did not forget any single detail. My wife was in her ninth month and we were counting down every day to the moment that we would hear his first cry. My wife’s due date came and went, but the nurses said that she must first have a pregnancy pain indicating labor. However, my wife did not have any kind of this pain until the tenth day after the due date.  I took her to the hospital begging God that she and the baby would live. What if they were in risk? What if one of them died? How could I continue to live my life? Seconds felt like hours that refused to move. I could not bear waiting; I smoked three cigarettes and still no news arrived.

Suddenly, the doctor came out. I ran to ask about my wife’s health. He said she was fine but there was a problem with the baby. My child was not born on his due date and consequently his brain was affected as it lacked oxygen during his extra days in the womb. As a result he would not be like other normal babies; he would suffer all his life. He would be handicapped, physically and mentally. I was unable to accept the truth at first. I accused the doctor, the hospital and any person I deemed responsible for this accident. I used the word accident because I was convinced that this could have been prevented if people had done their job well, if the doctor had paid attention to our case as it should have been paid attention to, if the nurses and doctor in the hospital had done completed a cesarean operation instead of just waiting the birth pain to happen. In these moments, I desired to kill any irresponsible and uncaring person associated with the birth of my son. However, the big question was whether I could and would accept this creature as my son.

Surprisingly, my wife was the first to answer this question. She asked for a divorce and rejected her own baby. I found myself alone in this world with this poor creature. The dearest person in our lives rejected us, the person who was supposed to be the first to give us love, affection and protection.  How could a mother, a woman, Eve that God created to give life and happiness to Man, be the first to burn my heart and to abandon her baby? I thought and thought and re-thought until my head ached and I became unable to think further.

My memories took me back to my past mistakes, which some of them I remembered and others I had forgotten. I thought that this might be a punishment from God. I read books on the subjects of philosophy, history, and religion in order to give meaning to my life with my son. After all, he was my son and if I did not take care of him, who would?    

I decided to devote my life to my child. I have taken care of him in the best way I possibly could. I have taken him to the doctor regularly. I have always prepared him healthy food, rich in vitamins. He knows what time he is supposed to eat, and reminds me by screaming, tapping the floor, and looking towards the kitchen. I taught him how to walk as a child but I later realized that his legs could not support his body because his bones are so weak. I have given him as much calcium as I can afford in order to help him build a strong body. I have also learnt his body language, since he cannot talk, until I succeeded to communicate with him.

My son is now fifteen, very cheerful, and strong. He has the same baby laughter and childish smile that he always had. I have spent my life taking care of him and I realized that he is the love of Allah, an angel that God sent me to give meaning to my life. He has given me love that no other child in this world is capable of giving. With him, I feel peace that ten Eves cannot provide. He is my companion, my joy, my pain and laughter. Simply said, he is my life.

We enjoy our time together; we go out to the beach, camp in the forest, travel by car, and go shopping. We become the center of attention in each community we enter. People look at us as though we were stars of a serial TV show. Their interest is out of sympathy and out of curiosity of seeing something uncommon and new to them.

The only question that bothers me now is who will take care of my son if I pass away, if I become sick and weak in my old age, or if something bad happens to me? He has nobody in this world to serve him except for me. Unfortunately, my country still lacks enough centers made for people with special needs. In my country, disabled people are generally protected by their families. However, in my case, I am the only person who takes care of this child. I sometimes wish that I would not die before him so that I would not leave him alone in a world where he is an alien.

Remark: This story is illustrated from a true one. It sheds light on people with specific needs living in remote or small areas of Morocco. What these people need is to be accepted and integrated in their communities through access to education and good welfare. 

Rabat- The Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders was referred to prosecutors after making anti-Moroccan remarks during a campaign rally.

The Netherlands has attracted large numbers of Moroccans to cover its industrial labor force needs since the 1960s and 1970s, and now the Freedom party leader is attempting to send Moroccans back to their homeland.

At a municipal election campaign rally, the right-wing Freedom Party leader Greet Wilders told supporters he wanted fewer Moroccans in The Hague.

According to The Chicago Tribune, Wilders told supporters on Wednesday they should vote "for a city with fewer problems, and if it's at all possible, a few fewer Moroccans".

According to the same source, Wilders said "Moroccan scum" should leave the Netherlands, and that Moroccans were over-represented in crime statistics and in the number of people receiving social assistance benefits.

Moroccans living in the Netherlands have been under heavy public scrutiny since the murder of film-maker Theo van Gogh by Moroccan Islamic extremist Mohammed Bouyeri in November 2004. In the years leading up to his murder, Van Gogh had been a scathing critic of what he liked to refer to as "fascist" Islam.

Politician Geert Wilders appears to follow in Theo van Gogh's footsteps. His Freedom Party already has a considerable parliamentary presence, and if the opinion polls are to be believed, “it could become the biggest party in the country come the next elections”, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Wilders has progressively ramped up his anti-Islamic rhetoric, calling the Koran a "fascist book". In 2008, He made a 17-minute-long movie “Fitna” depicting Islam as inherently violent. The film attempted to demonstrate that the Qur'an motivates its followers to hate all who violate Islamic teachings.

Though international media has always looked at him as anti-Muslim, Wilders maintains that he is not anti-Muslim, only anti-Islam, summing up his views by stating "I don't hate Muslims, I hate Islam", according to The Guardian.