3 Octobre 2015 T. Mourad – Libe.ma

Le Royaume en pourparlers avec l’Espagne, les Etats-Unis et la France pour la création d’usines mixtes

Une étude réalisée par l’entreprise américaine Frost and Sullivan a estimé que le Royaume est considéré comme l’un des cinq pays (Colombie, Koweït, Malaisie, Singapour et Maroc) où l’industrie de défense émergera au cours de la prochaine décennie.

La même étude relayée par l’agence espagnole EFE a précisé que, vu les dangers grandissants dans la région et notamment le terrorisme jihadiste, les dépenses militaires du Royaume croîtront de 3,6 % durant les 10 prochaines années. Et de prévoir que les budgets de défense du Maroc et des quatre pays de référence passeront de 38,73 billions de dollars en 2015 à 55,51 billions de dollars en 2025, soit une croissance annuelle de 3,7 %.

« Contrairement aux principales économies émergentes comme l’Inde, la Corée du Sud, la Turquie, les Emirats arabes unis et le Brésil, les cinq pays sélectionnés pour cette étude tentent de développer une base industrielle locale et de diminuer le recours à l'équipement étranger », a souligné l’étude américaine.

Dans ce sens, le Maroc mène des négociations avec les Etats-Unis, la France et l’Espagne pour mettre en place une industrie locale d’armement par la création d’entreprises mixtes, d’après EFE.

Il y a quelques semaines, le site web «Infodefensa.com» avait publié une déclaration du directeur général de l’armement et du matériel de l’armée espagnole, le général de corps d’armée Juan Manuel Garcia Montana, en marge du dernier salon de l’armement DSEI 2015 à Londres, soulignant que «le Maroc a officiellement demandé aux autorités militaires espagnoles de participer à la création d’une industrie militaire locale, avec l’aide des entreprises ibériques opérant dans l’industrie de l’armement».

« Le Royaume veut suivre l’exemple de son voisin et rival l’Algérie qui a conclu d’importants accords militaires avec des entreprises allemandes », a souligné EFE en rappelant l’accord signé entre les deux pays pour un montant de 2,7 milliards de dollars avec le géant de l’industrie militaire allemande, Rheinmetall, pour l’installation d’une usine de fabrication de blindés près de Constantine qui  permettra de produire un millier d’unités de transport de troupes Fuchs2. Par ailleurs, « Alger s’est engagé à ne pas vendre à un Etat tiers les 120 chars qui sortiront annuellement de sa future usine vu que Berlin ne vend pas de matériel de guerre à des pays tiers », a souligné la presse algérienne.

Il convient de souligner que le Maroc a signé un contrat de 358 millions de dollars avec la société américaine spécialisée dans la fabrication de véhicules blindés « General Dynamics Land Systems » pour la livraison en 2018 de 150 chars « M1A1 Abrams » complètement rénovés. Une rénovation s’effectuera dans les locaux de Joint Systems Manufacturing Center (JSMC), entreprise publique, appartenant au ministère de la Défense, située dans la ville de Lima dans l’Etat de l’Ohio.

15 September 2015 defenceWeb (Reuters)

Morocco has broken up another Islamic State terrorist cell.Moroccan authorities said on Monday they had dismantled a militant cell planning to create an Islamic State affiliate, seizing weapons and bomb-making materials in raids on their hideouts. The cell is the latest in a series of radical groups Morocco says it has uncovered. The group was operating in the southern city of Essaouira and the central town of Sidi Allal Al-Bahraoui. At the offices of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), reporters were shown weapons, ammunition, tasers, swords and bomb materials seized from hideouts. BCIJ is the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service.

Read more

18 March 2015 by defenceWeb

African arms imports increased by 45 per cent between the periods 2005–2009 to 2010–14, with Algeria importing the most during this period, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has revealed in an analysis of the global arms trade.

Between 2010 and 2014, Africa accounted for 9 per cent of all arms exports, measured by volume. The three largest importers in Africa in 2010–14 were Algeria (30 per cent of imports), Morocco (26 per cent) and Sudan (6 per cent).

States in sub-Saharan Africa received 42 per cent of imports by African states. Sudan was the largest and Uganda the second largest importer in the subregion, accounting for, respectively, 15 per cent and 14 per cent of the subregional total, according to SIPRI.

Between 2005–2009 and 2010–14 imports by Algeria increased by 3 per cent; imports by its regional rival Morocco increased elevenfold. In 2014, major deliveries to Algeria included a helicopter carrier from Italy, the last batch of 48 air defence systems from Russia and an estimated 50 self-propelled guns from China; meanwhile, Morocco received a frigate from France. Algeria, unlike Morocco, has several major outstanding arms orders. These include orders placed in 2014 for two Kilo submarines and 42 Mi-28/Mi-26 helicopters from Russia and 926 Fuchs APCs from Germany. The orders for helicopters and APCs appear partly related to the Algerian Government’s conflict with rebel groups.

Nigeria and Cameroon received weapons from several suppliers to fulfil their urgent demand for weapons to fight against the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. Taken together, in 2014, both countries ordered and received helicopters from China and Russia, and armoured vehicles from China, Czech Republic, South Africa and Ukraine. Canadian companies also supplied armoured vehicles from production lines based in Nigeria and the UAE, SIPRI reports.

Elsewhere in the world, SIPRI noted that arms imports to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states increased by 71 per cent from 2005–2009 to 2010–14, accounting for 54 per cent of imports to the Middle East in the latter period. Saudi Arabia rose to become the second largest importer of major weapons worldwide in 2010–14, increasing the volume of its arms imports four times compared to 2005–2009. The top six importers are India, Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE, Pakistan and Australia.

“Mainly with arms from the USA and Europe, the GCC states have rapidly expanded and modernized their militaries”, said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. “The GCC states, along with Egypt, Iraq, Israel and Turkey in the wider Middle East, are scheduled to receive further large orders of major arms in the coming years.”

Asian arms imports continue to increase and of the top 10 largest importers of major weapons during the 5-year period 2010–14, five are in Asia: India (15 per cent of global arms imports), China (5 per cent), Pakistan (4 per cent), South Korea (3 per cent) and Singapore (3 per cent). These five countries accounted for 30 per cent of the total volume of arms imports worldwide. India accounted for 34 per cent of the volume of arms imports to Asia, more than three times as much as China. China’s arms imports actually decreased by 42 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14, SIPRI data reveals.

“Enabled by continued economic growth and driven by high threat perceptions, Asian countries continue to expand their military capabilities with an emphasis on maritime assets”, said Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. “Asian countries generally still depend on imports of major weapons, which have strongly increased and will remain high in the near future.”

Other notable developments highlighted by SIPRI are that European arms imports decreased by 36 per cent between 2005–2009 to 2010–14, although the Institute cautioned that developments in Ukraine and Russia may counter this trend after 2014 with several states bordering Russia increasing their arms imports.

SIPRI also pointed out that arms imports by Azerbaijan increased by 249 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14; to fight ISIS, Iraq received arms from countries as diverse as Iran, Russia and the USA in 2014; and deliveries and orders for ballistic missile defence systems increased significantly in 2010–14, notably in the Gulf and North East Asia.

Exporters

The United States remains the lead global arms exporter, followed by Russia, China, Germany and France. Together, they accounted for 74 per cent of the volume of arms exports. Overall, the volume of international transfers of major conventional weapons grew by 16 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14, SIPRI said.

The volume of US exports of major weapons rose by 23 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14. The USA’s share of the volume of international arms exports was 31 per cent in 2010–14, compared with 27 per cent for Russia.

“The USA has long seen arms exports as a major foreign policy and security tool, but in recent years exports are increasingly needed to help the US arms industry maintain production levels at a time of decreasing US military expenditure”, said Dr Aude Fleurant, Director of the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme.

Russian exports of major weapons increased by 37 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14. During the same period, Chinese exports of major arms increased by 143 per cent, making it the third largest supplier in 2010–14, displacing Germany in the number three spot, however still significantly behind the USA and Russia.

China supplied major arms to 35 states in 2010–14. A significant percentage (just over 68 per cent) of Chinese exports went to three countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. China also exported major arms to 18 African states. Examples of China’s increasing global presence as an arms supplier in 2010–14 included deals with Venezuela for armoured vehicles and transport and trainer aircraft, with Algeria for three frigates, with Indonesia for the supply of hundreds of anti-ship missiles and with Nigeria for the supply of a number of unmanned combat aerial vehicles, according to SIPRI.

Germany’s share of the global arms market has been decreasing (by 43 per cent between 2005–2009 and 2010–14) according to SIPRI, but nevertheless the country has received some major contracts. African orders in 2014 included two Type 209 submarines for Egypt and 926 Fuchs armoured personnel carriers for Algeria.

France exported a substantial amount of hardware to Africa – between 2010 and 2014 21 per cent of its exports went to the continent. French eff orts to increase arms exports were boosted by a deal negotiated in 2014 and signed in early 2015 with Egypt for the delivery of 24 Rafale combat aircraft and one FREMM frigate.

March 16, 2015 Dave Majumdar - nationalinterest.org

America has an opportunity to export its expertise.

Last month, the U.S. State Department unveiled new export guidelines for commercial and military unmanned aircraft—colloquially known as drones. While ostensibly holding firm to the U.S. government’s adherence to the voluntary Missile Control Technology Regime, the new policy would allow the export of drones with ranges greater than 300 kilometers and a payload of more than 500 kilograms on “rare occasions.”

The new policy formalizes the de facto arrangement that already existed, which allows the U.S. government to currently export machines like the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper and the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. But perhaps more significantly, it sets up a standard for the export of commercial drones—imposing restrictions on the sale of those machines.

With the door more or less open to a wide range of sales to foreign operators—here are five countries that might benefit from U.S. drone technology.

Read more

12 February 2015 by Oscar Nkala/defenceWeb

The United States military is seeking to identify companies able to provide fixed wing air transport services on behalf of US Army Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in countries in Africa.

On February 4 the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) register issued a notice saying Special Operations Command Africa was “conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in, and the resources to support, an emerging requirement for mobile fixed wing air transport services to move personnel and cargo within the northern regions of Africa and surrounding countries”.

SOCOM said the airlift services will cover the African nations of Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal. Jordan, which is likely to the base for the Africa operations, is the only Middle Eastern country covered by the airlift requirement.

The fixed wing aircraft involved must be capable of transporting a minimum of 1 000 pounds and maximum of 4 500 pounds to include a mix of a maximum of 12 passengers and/or cargo. It must also be capable of taking off/landing on improved and unimproved dirt airfields of a minimum of 1 800 feet in length to support supply and personnel transportation requirements.

"The primary operation area where the air transportation support could be provided include, but are not be limited to, Libya, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal, and Morocco. Other locations within northern Africa may be dictated by operational requirements and timely coordination will ensure contractor support," the notice stated.

Responses are called for by February 23.

The notice comes amid calls for the Pentagon to prepare for a large-scale counter-insurgency campaign to destroy West African-based terrorist groups like Boko Haram and several other Islamist militant groups operating in Mali, Niger, Algeria, Mauritania and other 'safe havens' in the Sahel and Lake Chad sub-regions.

In remarks made during an address at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, last week, Africa Command (Africom) head General David Rodriguez said a US-led counter-insurgency campaign was necessary to eliminate the threat posed by new terrorist groups based in West Africa.

He said Africom is already preparing a response which will include operations that will target 'forces affiliated to Boko Haram' in four West African countries neighbouring Nigeria.

Presenting a lecture to students at the US Army's West Point academy early this month, Special Operations Command (SOCOM) commander General Joseph Votel said US Army commando teams must start preparing now for new deployments against Boko Haram and the Islamic State in north and west Africa.

“Boko Haram is creating fertile ground for (terrorist) expansion into other areas. While it is not yet a direct threat to the (US) homeland, it is impacting indirectly our interests in this particular area (West Africa) and creating another area of instability,” General Votel said.

So far, US special operations forces operating in the Africa and Middle Eastern regions have conducted a number of raids against al Shabaab in Somalia, Islamist militants in Libya and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen.

10 February 2015 by defenceWeb

The annual African Lion exercise between the United States and Morocco is currently underway, with 350 US service members and 150 soldiers of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces being joined by military contingents from Germany, England, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Senegal.

The first phase of the exercise kicked off earlier this month in Agadir and is focusing on intelligence capacity building, to be followed by the standing up of a Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) and plan for a simulated international crisis toward the overall goal of building combined military capabilities to strengthen cooperation and operational proficiency. Scenarios that focus on humanitarian aid, disaster relief, command and control etc. will be enacted, the US Marine Corps said.

The main phase of the exercise is scheduled to take place in mid-May, and will involve around 2 500 personnel and contingents from the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as a simultaneous exercise with the US-Moroccan Air Force Joint Exercise “Majestic Eagle,” which will focus on aerial refuelling and close air support training missions.

African Lion is an annually scheduled, bilateral U.S. and Moroccan sponsored exercise designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation’s tactics, techniques and procedures. It is the largest annual US military exercise on the continent.

“The foundation of how our international community responds to a crisis in any region will be established during theatre security cooperation exercises such as African Lion,” said Maj. Gen. Richard L. Simcock, commander of the CJTF. “This exercise allows the U.S., allies and partner nations to strengthen our relationships with our Moroccan hosts and improve how we will work together in the future.”

August 5, 2014: Strategy Page

Of all the Arab countries Morocco has had the least problems with Islamic terrorism. There are several reasons for this. First there is geography. Morocco is the westernmost (from Arabia) Moslem country and like the easternmost nation (Indonesia) is least affected by the Islamic radicalism that arose in Arabia in the 7th century and has survived there ever since. Then there is the ethnic factor. While Morocco is nominally an Arab country most of the people were originally Berber, the people native to North Africa for over 40,000 years. Many Moroccans are aware of their Berber ancestry and take pride in it. Berbers resisted, often successfully, the initial advance by Arab Moslem armies and while most eventually converted to Islam, they tend to wear their religion lightly and are not considered the best recruits for Islamic terrorist groups. Yet Islamic radicalism and Arab nationalism still appeals to some young Moroccans but not nearly as many as in other Arab countries. At least a thousand Moroccans are fighting with rebel groups in Syria and since September 11, 2001 thousands of local Islamic radicals have been arrested in Morocco. Most of these were freed largely because they had decided to abandon and avoid Islamic radicalism and actually did so.

The main Moroccan antidote to Islamic terrorism is an ancient monarchy that follows the moderate Malikite form of Sunni Islam. Most North Africans are nominally Malikite but outside of Morocco a greater number are tempted to sample the much more radical Wahhabism from Saudi Arabia. In Morocco the ancient monarchy was always at the center of Malikite worship. The last two kings (Hasan II 1961-99 and Mohammed VI from 1999 to the present) have encouraged democracy and good government as well as adherence to the moderate Malikite Islam. For example the current king has had over 1,600 Malikite religious teachers trained since 2006 and sent them to the 50,000 mosques throughout the country to show local clergy how to better serve their congregations and resist the temptations of Islamic radicalism. This program was in response to radical missionaries sent to Morocco by Saudi Arabia and Iran in the last decade as well as the radical propaganda spread by the Internet and Arab language satellite news channels.

Islamic terrorist groups have tried to establish themselves in Morocco since the 1990s but have found the going very difficult. There have been few Islamic terrorist attacks and those that do occur are swiftly dealt with. For example, in April 2011 a terrorist bomb went off a popular tourist café in Marrakech killing 16 people. Most of the dead were foreign tourists and it was the worst terror attack in eight years. The bomber was sloppy however and police were able to track him down along with two accomplices. What they found was a determined al Qaeda admirer who was unable to connect with al Qaeda central or travel to current terrorist hotspots (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Chechnya) because the Moroccan police were monitoring anyone going to those places. But the arrested man was able to get a workable bomb design on the Internet, and was able to get bomb making materials locally. There is a lot of official al Qaeda "how to be a terrorist" stuff on the Internet, but wannabes tend to pay insufficient attention to the need for security. The incident also demonstrated that as long as there is a lot of pro-terrorist propaganda out there some small percentage (often less than one percent) of the population will buy into to it, and seek to carry out terror attacks. Since there are so few terror attacks in places like Morocco, each one that does occur is a big deal. But it's not much of a trend.

A year earlier Morocco announced it had destroyed a 24 man terrorist cell. Four of those arrested had previously been in jail for terrorist activities. This cell was not only planning attacks, but had also been active in recruiting Moroccans for terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Since 2003, when Islamic radicals throughout the Arab world became enraged by the American invasion of Iraq, Morocco shut down 60 Islamic terrorist cells. In early 2010 there were over a thousand Islamic radicals jailed in Morocco. Despite all this, Morocco was having a peculiar problem with Islamic radicalism. Iran sent missionaries for a while. These fanatics were armed with lots of cash and engaged in aggressive attempts to convert Moroccans to the militant brand of Shia Islam favored in Iran. This so angered Morocco that diplomatic relations with Iran were cut in 2009. Morocco also cracked down on Wahhabi missionaries from Saudi Arabia, and Islamic radicals in general. The king had an advantage in that he is a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammed (important for any Moslem leader) and is generally popular. The Moroccan government is not as corrupt and inept as others in the Arab world, but is not a whole lot better either.

Meanwhile Morocco helps other North African and Sahel countries deal with Islamic terrorism. Morocco sends religious teachers and is always ready to discuss specific problems that Morocco had already taken care of at home. One problem Morocco has handled well is economics. Without oil Morocco has prospered by making it easy to start and operate businesses and resisted the temptation to nationalize sectors of the economy. While Morocco does not have the highest per-capita GDP in North Africa it recognized as having the best quality of life.

18 March 2014 defenceWeb (Reuters)

Morocco and Spain made seven arrests and dismantled an Islamist militant cell led by a Spanish citizen that sent fighters to "hotbeds of tension" such as Syria, officials from both countries said on Friday.

Hundreds of fighters from Morocco and other Maghreb states like Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist-dominated rebel forces in Syria's civil war and North African governments fear they will pose security threats once they return home.

Spain's interior ministry said the group's leader, Mustafa Maya Amaya, a nationalized Spaniard born in Belgium, was arrested in Melilla along with two French citizens. Melilla is a Spanish enclave on the Mediterranean, surrounded by Morocco.

Also arrested was a Tunisian man based in Malaga, Spain and three Moroccans arrested in their own country.

Spanish Interior Minister Interior Jorge Fernandez said it was the biggest group in Europe recruiting jihadists for Syria. Some of its members had returned to Spain from conflict zones where they were involved with al Qaeda-linked organizations.

He said the cell was now completely broken up because all of its elements, including document forgers, logistics organizers and jihadists had been arrested.

"The cell was dismantled in coordination with Spanish security forces," the Moroccan interior ministry said in a statement carried by official news agency MAP.

"Three Moroccans were arrested at the same time as the (Spanish) head of the cell and his acolytes have been arrested by the Spanish security services," it said.

The Moroccan statement said Amaya, the Spanish head of the cell just broken up, had had close ties with another cell that was linked to al Qaeda's North African wing, known as AQIM. That cell was dismantled last year as it planned to send militants to fight in Mali and Syria.

Spain said Maya Amaya used the internet to recruit jihadists and helped them join movements such as the Al Qaeda splinter group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (IDIL), al Qaeda's Nusra Front branch in Syria, and AQIM.

Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, often says it has broken up radical cells accused of plotting inside and outside the kingdom.

It has suffered numerous bomb attacks by suspected Islamist guerrillas, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh, but militant groups have so far failed to gain any foothold in the kingdom.

Tuesday was the tenth anniversary of the Atocha train bombing in Spain, carried out by an Islamist cell, in which 191 people died.

18 November 2013 Ministry of Defence

Soldiers from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment are strengthening ties with the Moroccan Army by taking part in Exercise Jebel Sahara.

Now in its thirteenth year, the month-long exercise is based a few miles north of Marrakech and involves 161 members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment (RG) augmented by 49 soldiers from the UK and 200 from the Moroccan Deuxieme Brigade d’Infanterie Parachutiste (2BIP).

The embassy in Rabat recently celebrated the 800th anniversary of diplomatic contacts between the UK and Morocco, and the importance of the relationship was underlined with a visit to the exercise by Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, Mr Clive Alderton, and Defence Attaché Lieutenant Colonel Simon Barnett.

Lieutenant Colonel Barnett said:

The bond between the 2 militaries is obviously strong at all levels, and at the very highest levels of the Moroccan armed forces they are keen to deepen this bond with the United Kingdom.

The Royal Gibraltar Regiment understands how the Moroccan military work, which is why their input is central to negotiations for any exercise planning in the region.

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, also visited the exercise for a tour of a mock-up of a forward operating base, followed by a trip to the training ground, where he took part in some sniper training and witnessed a joint training demonstration.

He was impressed with the obvious depth of planning that had gone into the exercise and how well the 2 nations worked together to achieve their training objectives.

Another visitor, the Commander British Forces Gibraltar, Commodore John Clink, witnessed the RG defending a patrol base. Afterwards, he said:

Jebel Sahara is a fantastic opportunity for the Royal Gibraltar Regiment to be able to exercise in wider areas than what is obviously available in Gibraltar.

This essential training opportunity is only achieved because of the excellent relationship the RG have with 2BIP which stretches over 13 years.

I am struck by the enthusiasm of the soldiers from both countries and the way in which those in the regiment with operational experience were sharing their knowledge with their colleagues and Moroccan counterparts; a great team effort.

The relationship is nourished by even the most inexperienced soldiers; Private Karim Atto has only been with the RG for a couple of months and is straight out of infantry training at Catterick.

Private Atto was born and raised in Gibraltar and both his parents are Moroccan, so he not only speaks fluent Arabic but also understands the culture well and can translate between junior soldiers.

He said:

It’s great to be in Morocco for this exercise and, having always wanted to join the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, the training has exceeded my expectations. It has been exciting, especially the live firing, and I’ve enjoyed working with the Moroccan Army.

August 24, 2013: Strategy Page

Border police in Western Algeria are intercepting more drug smugglers bringing in hashish and cocaine via Morocco. This indicates that the al Qaeda controlled drug smuggling operation from tropical Africa (south of the Sahara desert) is recovering from the disruption inflicted by the French-led intervention in northern Mali last January. This operation led to increased security on all of Mali’s borders and the entire southern Algeria frontier. Al Qaeda lost a lot of people in Mali this year and this hurt the drug smuggling operation al Qaeda was running via Mali.

August 22, 2013: There was a rare terrorist attack in the mountains of Western Algeria, which left three of four hunters dead and beheaded. Police are seeking the killers, who may not be Islamic terrorists but probably are.

August 21, 2013: A notorious Algerian Islamic terrorist (Mokhtar Belmokhtar) has merged his al Qaeda splinter group with a Mauritanian Islamic terror group to form a new group: Al Mourabitoun. The Mauritanian component of Al Mourabitoun is the MOJWA (Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, largely composed of black African Islamic radicals and led by Mauritanians). MOJWA is unique among Islamic terrorist groups because its leadership is black African. Mauritanian security forces have made it very difficult for MOJWA to operate in Mauritania, and that’s why so many MOJWA members moved to Mali in the last year. Since France intervened in Mali this year, MOJWA and the Belmokhtar group have moved. The new group has already been operating, largely in Niger where it recently carried out several daring attacks (including a prison break in June and twin bombings in May).

Mokhtar Belmokhtar was also the planner of the January natural gas facility attack in southern Algeria that got 37 workers killed. Belmokhtar has a reputation for always escaping the many efforts to kill or capture him, and the U.S. is offering a $5 million reward for him dead or alive. Belmokhtar was number two or three in the North African al Qaeda organization (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM) but formed his own splinter group in late 2012. AQIM and the Belmokhtar splinter group had members from all over North Africa but mostly from Algeria, and while defeated in Mali, it was not destroyed there. Al Mourabitoun has announced that it is planning attacks against French citizens and businesses in Africa, as well as targets in Egypt (to support the recently deposed Moslem Brotherhood government there). Al Mourabitoun will probably not try to carry out more attacks in Algeria, where the security forces are eager to nail Belmokhtar for the many attacks he has previously carried out in his homeland. Belmokhtar appears to be moving around in Niger and southern Libya.

August 19, 2013: In the far south, around the town of Bordj Badji Mokhtar on the Mali border, the government is trying to quell growing violence between armed members of the Arab Brabiche and Tuareg Idnan tribes. This is all about tribal politics and long-standing tribal feuds, not Islamic radicalism. In the last week at least 23 people have died in a series of skirmishes. The conflict area is 2,200 kilometers from the coast and the government is also sending 1,500 elite army troops to help restore order.

August 12, 2013: Tunisian warplanes attacked a terrorist base in the Atlas Mountains just across the Tunisian border. Tunisian police and soldiers have spent over four months hunting for up to fifty Islamic terrorists who are operating near the Kasserine Pass and Mount Chaambi area . Tunisian security personnel have been searching a hundred square kilometers of sparsely populated forests and mountains without much success. A few terrorists have been killed or captured and cell phones captured containing videos of attacks on soldiers and police. The fleeing terrorists are having a hard time sustaining themselves but they are armed and not inclined to surrender. Algeria has reinforced its border security with Tunisia and blocked several attempts by the Tunisian terrorists to slip into Algeria. This is the first time Tunisia has had to deal with armed Islamic terrorists since 2007. These armed men have been active in the area since January. Some of these terrorists recently fled Mali and others are from Algeria. These were joined by a smaller group (a dozen or so) of Tunisian Islamic terrorists who had apparently not been active until joined by all these new men and a few additional local recruits. There has been a lot of evidence that Tunisia is providing more Islamic radicals for terrorist groups. Eleven of the 32 terrorists killed in the attack on an Algerian natural gas field in January were Tunisian, which provided a hint that there were a lot more Islamic terrorists in Tunisia than the government wants to admit.

12 July 2013 naval-technology.com

The Royal Moroccan Navy's DCNS-built frégate Européen multi-mission (FREMM) vessel, to be named Mohammed VI, has successfully completed the third series of sea trials off the Brittany coast, France.

During testing, the ship demonstrated its combat system's main sensors performance capabilities by maintaining consistency of the data analysed and displayed, with the results obtained during shore-based simulations.

Scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2013, the ship has validated its target engagement sequences using Aster anti-air and MM40 anti-ship missiles, as well as undergoing fire-control tests for the 76mm main gun and exhaustive testing of the multifunction radar.

Additional capability trials for the vessel involved helicopter approach control and the various towed devices deployment.

DCNS Morocco FREMM programme manager Gilles Raybaud said the recent sea trials have marked a major milestone for the overall FREMM programme, particularly for the vessel's combat system.

"Our crews thoroughly tested the full suite of combat system hardware and software that makes FREMM frigates among the most versatile and advanced on the world market," Raybaud said.

DCNS is currently under contract to build 11 FREMM ships for the French Navy and one for the Moroccan Navy.

The French Navy received the first FREMM vessel, Aquitaine, in November 2012, while the third ship of the class, named Normandie, is scheduled to be commissioned in May 2014.

FREMM vessel Provence, the fourth ship of the class, is due to be rolled out of building dock later this year for the French Navy, while the fifth and sixth of type are undergoing construction.

The 142m-long FREMM ships have a displacement capacity of 6,000t, a range of 15k, can cruise at a speed of 27k and are each capable of accommodating a crew of 145.

25 April 2013 by defenceWeb

The United States and Morocco yesterday resumed their annual African Lion military exercise, but on a much smaller scale following its earlier cancellation due to a spat over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

US embassy spokesman Rodney Ford told Agence France Presse that the Moroccan government had asked the United States to resume African Lion. "Most of our forces had already redeployed. But some elements are still on the ground. So we are conducting modified limited military engagements," he said yesterday.

Some of the activities taking place as part of African Lion include aerial refuelling, aerial training and various workshops.

African Lion was originally scheduled to begin on April 17 and conclude on April 27, but was cancelled on the 16th because of Moroccan anger with the Obama administration over its support for having the United Nations monitor human rights in a territorial dispute over the territory of Western Sahara.

“The Moroccan government has deferred the exercise to a later date,” said Tom Saunders, an Africom spokesman, in a statement last week. “The US and Moroccan militaries remain long-standing partners. We hope to continue to build our partnership through future military engagements with the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, as directed by US Africa Command and the United States Government.”

This week the US dropped its demand that rights monitoring be included in the mandate of the UN mission in the Western Sahara, with the resolution merely to encourage stronger efforts on human rights, AFP said.

Morocco occupied the desert region in 1976 unleashing a decades-long guerrilla struggle by the indigenous Polisario Front group, which ended with a UN ceasefire agreement in 1991. Since then talks between the two sides have remained stalemated, with Polisario insisting on an independence referendum and Morocco proposing autonomy for the mineral-rich former Spanish colony.

African Lion 2013 was set to involve 1 400 US personnel, 900 Moroccan troops and foreign observers. Earlier this month, the US Military Sealift Command’s USNS Dahl, a cargo transport vessel, pulled into a Moroccan port to deliver more than 250 short tons of equipment for the exercise. Marines disembarked everything from 7-ton trucks, Humvees and howitzers to Meals, Ready to Eat. Much of that equipment was reloaded and redeployed.

African Lion usually involves live-fire and manoeuvring exercises, amphibious operations and aerial refuelling and low-level flight training.