G5 Sahel: Morocco Offers its Expertise in Countering Terrorism

Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani offered to the member countries of the G5 Sahel, the “experience” and “expertise” of Morocco in countering terrorism during the 7th Summit of Heads of State of the member countries of the G5 Sahel.

In this regard, El Otmani recalled part of the speech of His Majesty King Mohammed VI before the Tunisian Parliament in May 2014 when he affirmed that “he is deluding himself who imagines that a country can, alone, overcome problems related to security and stability.”

“Experience has shown that exclusive approaches are ineffective in dealing with security dangers lurking in the region, especially in view of the challenges facing the Sahelo-Saharan area in terms of security and development”, said His Majesty.

El Othmani stated that King Mohammed VI wanted Morocco’s solidarity action to extend beyond emergency. The Prime Minister has also declared that the immediate response to terrorism is first and foremost related to “security”.

However, he ruled that a lasting victory over terrorist threats should be achieved by combining several aspects, including political, economic, social, intellectual and humanitarian aspects.

He thus affirmed that King Mohammed VI ensures that Morocco continues to train imams from the region within the Mohammed VI Institute for training Imams, Mourchidines, and Mourchidates, which has made it possible to train 937 people from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) during the year 2018-2019. Several hundred are already practicing in their countries of origin, helping to counter religious extremism.

In addition, he reiterated Morocco’s commitment to continue to support the establishment of the G5 Sahel Defense College in Nouakchott, and to train officers from neighboring Sahel countries in the country’s military training institutes.

Finally, Saad Dine El Otmani affirmed that by taking part in the G5 Sahel Summit, the Kingdom of Morocco, supported by its ancestral links with countries of the Sahel and faithful to its vocation as a committed actor for the promotion of peace and stability in Africa, reaffirms here, before you all, its commitment to solidarity with G5 Sahel and other countries of the sub-region to counter, together, all kinds of threats weighing on their future and that of the entire region.