Morocco

Morocco sent troops in 1990 to protect Saudi Arabia against Iraq’s troop build-up in Kuwait, but Moroccan forces had no direct role in the Gulf War. Western Saharan constituencies were included in the 1992 local elections, which followed King Hassan’s promulgation of a new constitution, overwhelmingly approved by referendum in September; the 1993 legislative elections gave the greatest share of the poll to a coalition of the centre-right parties. Neither wing of the political spectrum proved able to form a government, and in November 1993 King Hassan appointed a Cabinet of technocrats and independents. He replaced this with a partially elected Cabinet in February 1995, including some representatives of the majority right-wing parties.

In September 1996 a referendum approved the king’s plans for a new legislative upper house, composed of indirectly elected representatives of local government and the professions, by over 99 per cent; outside observers expressed scepticism at the high figure, but opposition parties welcomed the result. Legislative elections held in November 1997 saw the Socialist Union of Popular Force win 13.9 per cent of seats, followed closely by the Independence Party, with 13.2 per cent.

As Morocco produces 30 per cent of Europe’s supply of cannabis, in 1996 a major campaign against drug smuggling was launched in response to foreign criticism. The campaign aroused opposition from importers and criticism from others concerned about human rights. While Islamic militant groups are illegal in Morocco, Islamic fundamentalism is on the increase, mainly as a reaction to the country’s pro-Western stance.

In February 1998 Abderrahmane El Youssoufi was appointed prime minister by King Hassan II, and a new government was formed in March. Pledges on human rights, a solution to the Western Sahara issue, and reiteration of territorial claims to the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla were among policy objectives he outlined in an address to the legislature in April. In May measures were taken which seemed to indicate progress in human rights, when a passport was granted to a Jewish dissident and house arrest of the leader of a pro-Islamist group was lifted. An additional aid package was agreed between Morocco and France in October.

King Hassan II, who had ruled the country since 1961, died in July 1999 and was succeeded by his son, Sidi Mohammed, who took the name Mohammed VI. In early 2000 the king instigated a campaign for Morocco to join the European Union (EU).

Talks held in mid-2000 in London to try to resolve the Western Sahara situation were unsuccessful. Neither Morocco nor the Polisario were able to agree the terms of a referendum to establish ownership, and in early 2001 there were rumblings that the UN-monitored ceasefire maintained between the two sides since 1991 might be under threat. A further dispute, this time over the tiny island of Leila (Perejil) 200 m (650 ft) off the Moroccan coast, took place in July 2002 when Moroccan troops took over the island. They were quickly repulsed by Spanish forces since Spain also claims sovereignty over the island. US Secretary of State Colin Powell brokered a deal by which both Morocco and Spain agreed to remove permanent encampments from the 1 km (0.5 mi) long island. In December 2002 both sides met for talks but failed to resume normal diplomatic relations.

In elections held for the Chamber of Representatives in September 2002 the USFP won 50 seats, closely followed by the Istiqlal with 48. Twenty-two other parties won seats in the election. On October 9 the king appointed Driss Jettou as prime minister but it was not until early November that a government was formed, pretty much along the same political lines as the previous administration, with USFP and Istiqlal sharing power. Despite a strong showing in the polls, none of the representatives of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) gained a Cabinet post.

In February 2003 a court in Casablanca convicted three Saudi Al-Qaeda operatives of plotting a terrorist attack on US and British naval vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar. Five simultaneous suicide bomb attacks killed at least 41 people and left more than 100 others injured in Casablanca in May 2003; in August, a Moroccan court found four suspects guilty of involvement in the attack, and sentenced them to death.

A powerful earthquake near the north-eastern port city of Al Hoceïma claimed the lives of more than 500 people in February 2004.

The 2007 parliamentary election was closely fought, with the Justice and Development Party winning 46 of the 325 seats and the Independence Party (Istiqlal) taking 52.