Morocco - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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City Name

Rabat

Morocco

December 6, 2025

Rabat 12:30 am

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The Civil Guard, in a joint operation with the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie, has dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to smuggling hashish into Spain using drones, on Nov. 11, 2025.

Spain, Morocco dismantle drone network flying hashish across border

Spanish authorities seized more than 150 kilograms of hashish and more than 320,000 euros ($371,820) in cash in searches across southern Spain.

ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Morocco's UN-backed Western Sahara plan offers investors some reassurance

Last week, the UN Security Council voted in favor of a resolution backing Rabat’s plan for Western Sahara, describing autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the “most feasible solution” to the 50-year disagreement over the disputed territory.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

A man stands atop the kasbah of Ait-Ben-Haddou.

Culture

From Hollywood set to heritage hub: Morocco’s $75M bet on Ouarzazate

Once the Hollywood of the Sahara, Morocco’s desert city is betting on sustainable tourism to reclaim its place on the map.

Brahim Ghali, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SARD) and Secretary-General of the Polisario front, salutes the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SARD) ahead of a Polisario congress at the refugee camp of Dakhla, which lies some 170km to the southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf, on January 13, 2023.

UN Security Council backs Moroccan plan for disputed Western Sahara

The resolution boycotted by Algeria says the Moroccan plan "could constitute a most feasible solution" to the conflict.

Latest News

Feature

Trump eyes Algeria-Morocco rift over Western Sahara in latest peace bid

Camels roam next to wind turbines that will supply power to a desalination plant under construction in Dakhla in the disputed Western Sahara, mostly controlled by Morocco, on May 26, 2025.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Saudi investment minister visits Morocco, Senegal on Africa trade drive

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih with Moroccan Industry Minister Riad Mezzour

Culture

Marrakech's African Contemporary Art Museum reinvents itself two years after quake

Installation view of CONVERGE in Seven Contours, One Collection at MACAAL © Ayoub El Bardii.

Morocco arrests 400+ as youth protesters demand government steps down

ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP via Getty Images

Naima Morelli

In Rome, reporting on Middle East culture

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Sahrawi women hold Polisario Front's flags during a ceremony to mark 40 years after the Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in the disputed territory of Western Sahara on February 27, 2016 at the Sahrawi refugee camp of Dakhla which lies 170 km to the southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf.
SADR was declared in 1976 by the Polisario Front -- a rebel movement that wants independence for Western Sahara -- which fought a guerrilla war against Rabat's forces before a ceasefire in 19

Sahrawi protesters recount recent abuses

The people of Western Sahara have been seeking independence for decades and still suffer for their efforts.

Indigenous Sahrawi girls play on an improvised see-saw at a refugee camp of Boudjdour in Tindouf, southern Algeria March 3, 2016. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to visit the Sahrawi refugees in south-west Algeria's Tindouf region. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTS96QU

Trips offer respite to Sahrawi refugee children

Sahrawi children live in difficult conditions year-round, with the exception of those children lucky enough to take "peace vacations" in Spain.

Morocco's Abdalaati Iguider (front) finishes first in his men's 1500m semi-final during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium August 5, 2012. REUTERS/David Gray (BRITAIN - Tags: OLYMPICS SPORT ATHLETICS) - RTR367XZ

Morocco hoping for Olympic gold in boxing, track and field

Morocco is sending a number of exceptional athletes to the Rio Olympics, namely, middle-distance runner Abdalaati Iguider, boxer Mohammed Rabii and equestrian jumper Abdelkebir Ouaddar.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar (L) speak to the media prior to meetings at the Department of State in Washington, DC, February 18, 2016. / AFP / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Lobbying 2016: Morocco tightens grip on disputed Sahara

A general view shows Chad's President Idriss Deby addressing delegates during the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, January 31, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri - RTX24TF2

Why Morocco really wants back in the African Union

The king of Morocco's recent declaration that his country wants to return to the African Union after a 32-year absence appears to be a political maneuver to gain ground in the Western Sahara dispute.

A picture taken on May 13, 2013 shows facilities of the factory of the National Moroccan phosphates company (OCP/public) in Marca, near Laayoune, the capial of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. As a global leader in the market for phosphate and its derivatives, OCP has been a key player in the international market since its founding in 1920, the worlds largest exporter of phosphate rock and phosphoric acid and one of the worlds largest fertilizer producers. AFP PHOTOS/FADEL SENNA (Photo credit s

Sahrawis, EU in standoff over Moroccan trade agreement

The Polisario Front criticizes the EU’s farm trade agreement with Morocco because it also applies to the disputed territory of the Western Sahara; by bringing this agreement before the EU’s highest court, the Polisario Front puts its claim for independence back on the agenda.

An indigenous Sahrawi woman walks at a refugee camp of Boudjdour in Tindouf, southern Algeria March 3, 2016. In refugee camps near the town of Tindouf in arid southern Algeria, conditions are hard for indigenous Sahrawi residents. Residents use car batteries for electricity at night and depend on humanitarian aid to get by. The five camps near Tindouf are home to an estimated 165,000 Sahrawi refugees from the disputed region of Western Sahara, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. REUTERS/Zo

Algeria rips House appropriators over Sahara coercion

Algiers is furious at pro-Moroccan language in the annual foreign aid bill.

Brahim Ghali (C), new secretary general of Polisario Front and president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), walks at the Sahrawi refugee camp of Dakhla, southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf, July 9, 2016. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina? - RTSH3RO

Western Sahara's Polisario Front elects leader

The Sahrawi people have a new chief and a persistent determination to establish recognition from Morocco, one way or the other.

Indigenous Sahrawi women walk through Al Smara desert refugee camp in Tindouf, southern Algeria March 4, 2016. In refugee camps near the town of Tindouf in arid southern Algeria, conditions are hard for indigenous Sahrawi residents. Residents use car batteries for electricity at night and depend on humanitarian aid to get by. The five camps near Tindouf are home to an estimated 165,000 Sahrawi refugees from the disputed region of Western Sahara, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. REUTERS/

Why Sahrawi refugees don't count on census to provide relief

Some international parties are pushing for an independent census regarding the number of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, but some in the camps say they have reasons to be opposed.

What's next in Western Sahara dispute after death of Polisario leader?

Late Polisario Front leader Mohamed Abdelaziz kept the dispute over Western Sahara peaceful, but a fruitless, 25-year-long cease-fire with Morocco has young Sahrawis impatient.

An indigenous Sahrawi woman walks outside her tent in Al Smara desert refugee camp in Tindouf, southern Algeria March 4, 2016. In refugee camps near the town of Tindouf in arid southern Algeria, conditions are hard for indigenous Sahrawi residents. Residents use car batteries for electricity at night and depend on humanitarian aid to get by. The five camps near Tindouf are home to an estimated 165,000 Sahrawi refugees from the disputed region of Western Sahara, according to the United Nations refugee agency

Amid decreasing aid, Sahrawis seek self-sufficiency

A Sahrawi woman's successful business of producing traditional garments is helping other Western Sahara refugees support themselves in Algeria after decades of dependency on aid organizations.

Tunisian-born Holocaust survivor Susana Peretz, 79, sits in her home in the southern city of Beersheba April 4, 2013. Some 192,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel and about a third have sought aid from the Foundation for the Benefit of the Holocaust Victims in Israel. According to surveys by the foundation, 19 percent of the survivors have admitted to going without adequate amounts of food and 14 percent had to forego medical treatment at least once a year due to financial hardship. The report said that

Israel's Arab Jews officially recognized as victims of Holocaust

Roughly 1,000 of Israel's North African and Iraqi Jews have requested to receive a one-time compensation grant that recognizes the suffering of those communities under the Nazi regime.