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- Press Release: TOP TEN Reasons to Think of MOROCCO on Global Earth Day Apr 16 2010Contact: Garth Neuffer202. 470.2055FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, April 16, 2010TOP TEN Reasons to Think of MOROCCO on Global Earth DayWashington, DC(April 16) - Leading up to next week’s 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the following are ten good reasons to keep Morocco in mind--and visit online or in person--to mark Global Earth Day.1. Welcome to Morocco’s capital, RABAT, one of six world cities selected by Earth Dayas hostfor major events in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Global Earth Day--along with Tokyo, Kolkata, Buenos Aires, Washington, DC, and New York City.2. Solarenergy from the Sahara desert--unlimited reserves! Morocco has launched a $9 billion projectto harness the Sahara sun as renewable solar energy for a green economy, and reduce carbon emissionsby 3.7 million tons a year. Morocco expects renewable energy to supply 42% of its power by 2020.3. His Majesty King Mohammed VI, one of Green Morocco’s strongest advocates, has launched a project to plant a million palm trees by 2015. He has also directed creation of a national agency for the development and safeguarding of oases zones and Argan trees across Morocco.4. On April 24, the Stars come out in Rabat for a Day of Global Celebration. Renowned musicianSeal, Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, Reverend Jesse Jackson, & LOST’S Jeff Fahey join Moroccans and international guests at a great festive event in city center for an unforgettable Earth Day.5. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, top US environmental official, has praised Morocco as a modelfor “its commitment to a clean, green economy,”adding “Morocco’s leadership on the environment & sustainable development offers a great example for how we can spread this idea across the globe.” (3/18/10)6. On April 17-24, leading up to the Day of Global Celebration, RABAT is the site of an unprecedented week of Earth Day events, including environmental awareness workshops, seminars, and presentations on innovative, environmentally-friendly technologies.7. On April 22--Earth Day--Morocco unveils its groundbreaking “National Charter for the Environment and Sustainable Development,” the first of its kind in Africa and the Arab and Muslim world, according to Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers.8. Morocco also launches 10 major new environmental projects. On Earth Day,ten long-rangeprojects will be inaugurated aimed at protecting the environment, environmental education in schools,environment and rural development, fighting desertification, preserving ecosystems, and treating waste.9. Nationwide commitment to Green Morocco. A land of great diversity--from palm-sheltered oases, peaks of the Atlas Mountains, and sands of the Sahara--support for a Green Morocco and the National Environment Charter reflects the will of Moroccans across all regions and sectors of society.10. Rabat is the closest major Earth Day city to the US and Web-friendly. It has the quickest flights(8 hrs across the Atlantic), fastest Internet connections on the continent, and easy access to Marrakesh, Casablanca, Fez, and Tangiers. All the more reason to join Morocco in celebrating Earth Day 2010.Helpful Links and ContactsEarth Day in Morocco -Ibtissam Alaoui, ibtissam@a3communication.net
Phone: 011.212.522.27.26.02/03/04 Fax: 011.212.522.22.52.87###The Moroccan American Cultural Center (MACC)is a not-for-profit 501 c(3) organization which works to build stronger cultural and educational ties between Morocco and the US through its support of programs that enhance bilateral relations and cooperation. Created in 2003 as an initiative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, MACC has undertaken a range of projects which include hosting events that celebrate and share the rich diversity of Moroccan culture, and supporting programs that enhance cultural and educational ties between the US and Morocco as well as across the Maghreb. For more information, go to www.moroccanamericanculture.org.
PR-TOP 10 Reasons to Think Morocco on Earth Day Release FINAL 16Apr10.pdf - Press Release: Majority in US Senate Join Majority in US House in Supporting US Policy for Resolving Mar 17 2010
CONTACT: Calvin Dark 202.587.0855 cdark@moroccanamericancenter.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Majority in US Senate Join Majority in US House in Supporting US Policy for Resolving the Western Sahara Conflict
Letter from 54 Senators shows strong bipartisan backing in US Congress for a negotiated settlement of the conflict based on broad autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty; to remove 'major obstacle to stability,' fight terrorist threat in North Africa
Washington, DC (March 17)-Today, a bipartisan majority of Members of the US Senate-led by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee-sent a letter to Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton supporting US policy on Western Sahara, expressing concern over growing regional instability and the rising threat from terrorists in North Africa. The lawmakers urged “more sustained American attention to resolve one of the region's most pressing political issues, the Western Sahara” to “remove the major obstacle to stability in the region.”
Today's US Senate letter voices strong support for the US policy backing a solution to the conflict based on “broad autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty” and calls the Moroccan compromise autonomy proposal “serious and credible.” The letter notes it has been the “bipartisan US policy” of three successive Administrations (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) “to support a resolution of this conflict based on this formula.” In April 2009, 233 members of the US House of Representatives -a bipartisan majority-sent a letter [http://moroccanamericanpolicy.com/wsdocs/233letter.pdf]
to President Obama urging support for Morocco's compromise autonomy plan, expressing concern the ongoing Western Sahara conflict was thwarting efforts to combat increased terrorism and regional instability.
** For full text of the Senate letter and list of signers, please visit:
[www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org/SenateLetter.pdf]
Among the Senate letter's signers are: the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Appropriations committee, Finance Committee, and Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, and Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chair Sen. Byron Dorgan, (D-ND), and Assistant Minority Leader Sen. John Kyl, (R-AZ).
The Senate letter calls attention to a report, “Why the Maghreb Matters,” issued March 31, 2009 by a panel including former Sec. of State Madeleine Albright, former Amb. Stuart Eizenstat, and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark, arguing “the US must work diligently with its friends to resolve the stalemate over the Western Sahara” to protect US security interests and promote regional peace and prosperity. In January a report by the International Center for Terrorism Studies, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, detailed how attacks by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in North Africa have increased more than 550% since 9/11.
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The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. For more, please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org
This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
FINAL_Press_Release_#22930F.pdf - Press Release: Foreign Policy Experts Urge US and International Community Focus on Realistic Solutio Mar 12 2010
Foreign Policy Experts Urge US and International Community Focus on Realistic Solution, Not Ideology, to Break W. Sahara Deadlock
Fact-finding mission participants say “sustainable solution” should recognize new realities, offering stability, security, and self-determination to people in region; deny breeding ground to new al-Qaeda threat
Washington, DC (March 12)—Members of a distinguished panel of foreign policy experts, some recently returned from a fact-finding mission in Western Sahara, called on US and international policymakers yesterday to take a fresh look at ways to break the deadlock and work towards a realistic, sustainable solution to the decades-old regional conflict. Panelists pointed to alarming intelligence reports of al-Qaeda terrorists in the
Hosted by the Middle East Institute, the policymakers roundtable on the Western Sahara included: Ambassador David Welch, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs; Dr. J. Peter Pham, Senior Fellow, National Committee on American Foreign Policy; Sam Spector, former corporate associate at Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP, former Fulbright Fellow, and Associate on a project examining Middle East political change for the Secretary of Defense; Larry Velte, Professor, NESA Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; and Ambassador Wendy Chamberlain, President, Middle East Institute, and former Ambassador to Pakistan.
Welch said a number of approaches have been tried to resolve the
Spector, author of ‘Western Sahara and the Self-Determination Debate’ (Middle East Quarterly), called “
Pham said that the prospect of the Polisario ruling an independent
Pham added that the Polisario’s poor record on refugee rights, trafficking contraband, military training, and bleak conditions in the camps “is a classic profile for potential terrorist recruitment.” He noted that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has established a strong foothold in the Maghreb and Sahel, has linked up with drug traffickers in the region, and was casting a wide net for recruits. Pham contrasted the conditions in the camps with thriving economic and social conditions in Morocco-administered
Chamberlain concluded the roundtable saying “the human cost of doing nothing is too high.” She said that whether refugees in the desert camps number 90,000 or 50,000 (
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The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the
This material is distributed by the
FINAL_MEI_Release031210.pdf
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