Morocco

Whether Rabat cooperates with the United Nations' planned referendum on Western Sahara next July will be a key test of King Mohammed VI's political muscle. His father, King Hassan...

Contract-chasing companies, local politicians and many of Casablanca’s four million or so residents will focus, on 21-28 November, on the tenth anniversary of the city’s twinning w...

Old animosities between Algiers and Rabat are re-emerging. This time it's over Islamist infiltrators and the planned referendum on Western Sahara (see Box). Algeria's still powerfu...

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan risks losing face in the Western Sahara. The referendum planned for 7 December - to decid.e at last whether the territory joins Morocco ...

For all their differences, the rulers of the two big Maghreb neighbours share some important traits. They fear Islamist revolutionaries and are offering a small share of power to s...

The big winner in the 14 November general election was Interior Minister Driss Basri. Following some way behind were the biggest opposition party, the Union Socialiste des Forces P...

This year's elections, probably in May or June, may bring opposition parties into government but the political opening will be limited. Much of the power will stay with the Palace ...

The price of cannabis has soared this summer in Britain and other European markets. Smokers can lay much of the blame on Driss Basri, Interior Minister of Morocco, which is thought...

Political change is in the air. The heavy-handed and apparently politically motivated crack down on drug smugglers pitted the government, led by Interior Minister Driss Basri, agai...

The King is better. After a painful recovery from bronchial pneumonia, he attended the Sharm el Sheikh terrorism summit in March and means to visit his old friend Jacques Chirac in...