The Forum Global Fight against Terrorism held its first meeting in Marrakech

PERSISMA, Marrakech – The Forum Global Fight against Terrorism (GCTF) held Monday in Marrakech, the inaugural meeting of its Working Group on foreign terrorist fighters, co-chaired by Morocco and the Netherlands.

The meeting, held at senior officials and experts, has the participation of some 40 countries and several international organizations, regional and sub-regional organizations.

The GCTF is a political and informal platform, launched in 2011 to promote dialogue and cooperation in the fight against terrorism between its 30 founding members.

The Forum’s activities are divided into six working groups on “Sahel”, “Horn of Africa”, “criminal justice and the rule of law”, “detention and rehabilitation”, “the fight against violent extremism “and” foreign terrorist fighters, “co-chair Morocco and the Netherlands.

Speaking at the opening of the inaugural meeting, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nacer Bourita emphasized that the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters recently took an unprecedented scale and allows terrorist organizations to acquire significant material resources , fighters of various nationalities and sophisticated weapons, in addition to changing objectives and ambitions of these organizations with the proclamation of states and the inclination to extend their control over large areas, which resulted in a large threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of many countries around the world.

The phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters had emerged in Iraq in the early 2000s and then take an alarming dimension in the current conflict zones, he said, adding that the fight against terrorism inevitably involves concerted international efforts to identify recruitment networks, dismantle and thus halt the departure of foreign fighters to join terrorist organizations in conflict zones.

This struggle involves close international cooperation, a comprehensive and broad approach, and the promotion of good safety practices in accordance with the recommendations of the “Understanding the Hague-Marrakech” on the effective fight against the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters.

Participants will also discuss “the role of bilateral partners for the implementation of good practices GCTF”, “The development of the mandate and defining priority areas of GCFT working group on foreign terrorist fighters” and “the review the work plan and schedule of working group activities on foreign terrorist fighters.”

Established by the Foreign Ministers of the Member States September 22, 2011 in New York, the GCTF also wants a unique platform for policy makers and experts from key partner states in different parts of the world to share ideas and best practices to block the road to religious extremism and international terrorism that threaten the member countries. Besides Morocco, GCTF includes among its 30 members, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Canada, Spain, Australia, India, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand.