Mr. Nasser Bourita: Morocco, ‘Reference’ for Peace and Stability in Africa

PERSISMA, Rabat – Morocco is “unquestionably” positioned as a provider of regional stability and a reference in the field of peace in Africa, said, Tuesday in Rabat, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr. Nasser Bourita.

“Thanks to the Royal Vision, Morocco is unquestionably positioned as a provider of regional stability and a reference in the field of peace and stability at the level of the Continent,” Mr. Bourita told the press on the sidelines of the signing of a headquarters Agreement for the establishment in the Kingdom of the Program Office for Counter-Terrorism and Training in Africa of the UNOCT (United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism).

About this UN facility, the Minister noted that this “reference center”, the only one established in Africa by the UN, aims to train and “disseminate” practices in the fight against terrorism.

In this regard, the Minister said that the signing of this agreement and the upcoming opening of this structure in Morocco have much significance. It is, according to Mr. Bourita, a recognition of the comprehensive and multidimensional approach put in place by the Kingdom in the fight against terrorism, an approach that is distinguished by a “preventive dimension led with professionalism by Moroccan security forces”, an approach that concerns both the religious sphere as well as the social and economic fields.

“This approach has become known and recognized at the regional and international levels and the opening of this office by the United Nations in Morocco enshrines the recognition of this approach,” he stressed.

The second significance is related to Morocco’s African policy, he went on, noting that under this triangular approach, the Kingdom is a partner of international organizations but also African countries to develop training models, good practices at the continental level, in order to confront the scourge of terrorism.

This is an important significance, Mr. Bourita said, insofar as this signing comes at a time when Morocco and the UN note the resurgence of the terrorist threat at the level of the African continent as evidenced by the number of terrorist attacks (between 650 and 700 in 2012 against 4000 currently), the number of victims which has increased by more than 3 times in recent years, in addition to the proliferation of terrorist groups in all sub-regions of the continent.

The headquarters Agreement for the establishment in Morocco of UNOCT’s Programme Office for Counter-Terrorism and Training in Africa was signed, via videoconference, by Mr. Bourita and the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov.

This center reflects the ambition to combine efforts to meet the challenges posed by the growing terrorist threat in Africa in recent years.