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March 5, 2007
No. 806

Moroccan Berbers Call for Independent Berber State, Say Arab League is "Racist"

In an interview with the liberal Berber website "Tamazgha," Mustapha Berhouchi, president of the TADA umbrella group of Moroccan Berber organizations, said that the Berbers need a state of their own: "In a world where a fanatical Islam is looking to acquire nuclear capabilities, and faced with Europe's hypocritical attitude, the Imazighen (i.e. Berbers), if they want to continue to exist as a people, have no choice but to acquire a state."

In a separate statement, the CNCCOT, a Moroccan organization demanding official status for the Berber language in Morocco, called for a new secular and democratic constitution, guarantees of freedom of expression, and an end to Morocco's membership in the Arab League: "The Moroccan authorities' membership in illusory, phantom organizations like the Arab League is nothing but a waste of time and money… We demand that Morocco withdraw from the Arab League and from all the racist organizations of which it is a member."

Sources: www.tamazgha.fr, March 3, 2007; www.kabyle.com, March 3, 2007.


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