OIET Report Highlights Morocco's anti-jihadist Aid Despite “Latent Mistrust" And Migration Crisis
Madrid, March 7 (TNA) The report of the 'Yearbook of Jihadist Terrorism 2021' prepared by the International Observatory for Studies on Terrorism (OIET) positively assesses the "great efforts" to maintain collaboration on anti-jihadist matters between Morocco and Spain, despite the "still latent mistrust" derived from the differences between the two countries and the migratory crises such as the one that occurred in Ceuta in May of last year.
The observatory promoted by COVITE defends that both Spain and Morocco have an interest in maintaining ties to curb the threat of jihadism, hence it praises the "great efforts" after the diplomatic dispute in May 2021 over the massive entry of thousands of migrants into Ceuta.
"Despite what was pointed out at the beginning, it has not resulted in the cessation of the collaboration of both countries against terrorism," says the yearbook, which adds: "Bilateral anti-terrorist cooperation between Spain and Morocco is a success in itself for the overcoming of the previous difficulties and the broad implementation of measures and agreements in this regard".
The investigation maintains that "joint action in the fight against radicalization is not equally defined or developed as it is on the judicial, police and intelligence fronts." "The mistrust of both countries is still latent, which prevents the full development of many of the necessary actions of this bilateral cooperation," the researchers point out.
The chapter signed by Daniel Pérez points to the need for greater involvement of civil society --in addition to public institutions and judicial and police agencies-- to curb the threat of jihadist terrorism and violent radicalization.
The demonstration of the importance for both countries of the Spanish-Moroccan judicial cooperation is exposed by the OIET researchers in the bilateral meetings of the State Attorney General's Office and the King of Morocco's Attorney General's Office, as well as those between the Council General of the Judicial Power and the Supreme Court of the King of Morocco.
In the evolution of these specific relationships, there has been a shift from sharing data on cells or people related to jihadism to forming joint teams and mixed patrols of Spanish and Moroccan troops, despite not having common legal frameworks, as is the case between European countries. .
The "paradigm change" occurred, according to the OIET, with the coincidence of the "beginning of the end of ETA" and the attacks in Casablanca in 2003 and that of 11-M 2004 in Madrid, which opened a "deep reflection in regarding failures in the preventive sphere, both in the judicial, police and intelligence spheres, and in the fight against radicalization".
In 2001, Operation Date had already been carried out against people linked to the terrorist organization headed by Osama Bin Laden, but before the 11-M attack, according to the report, only 140 members of the National Police Corps were dedicated to the Islamist question, "when in little more than ten years there would be more than 3,000 troops in charge of combating religious terrorism of a jihadist nature".