Morocco is promoting its moderate version of Islam as a counterweight to the widening jihadist threat in the Sahara, training hundreds of imams from affected countries, but analysts question its motives. Islamist violence is plaguing Libya and Nigeria, Mali is still recovering from an Islamist takeover of half the country, and Tunisia is increasingly nervous about the return of battled-hardened nationals fighting for Al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria and Iraq. Morocco has kept a tight grip on the religious sphere, which is closely tied up with the monarchy's legitimacy. King Mohamed VI, who claims descent from the Prophet Mohammed, is accorded the title "commander of the faithful" and has a religious TV and radio station named after him, has been busily burnishing Morocco's image as a model Muslim state.
06-28-2014, 04:01 PM
Morocco eyes regional clout as a moderate Muslim model
Morocco is promoting its moderate version of Islam as a counterweight to the widening jihadist threat in the Sahara, training hundreds of imams from affected countries, but analysts question its motives. Islamist violence is plaguing Libya and Nigeria, Mali is still recovering from an Islamist takeover of half the country, and Tunisia is increasingly nervous about the return of battled-hardened nationals fighting for Al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria and Iraq. Morocco has kept a tight grip on the religious sphere, which is closely tied up with the monarchy's legitimacy. King Mohamed VI, who claims descent from the Prophet Mohammed, is accorded the title "commander of the faithful" and has a religious TV and radio station named after him, has been busily burnishing Morocco's image as a model Muslim state.
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