Peace Corps Online: July 22, 2003 - Associated Press: Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program

July 22, 2003 - Associated Press: Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2003: July 2003 Peace Corps Headlines: July 22, 2003 - Associated Press: Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program

By Admin1 (admin) on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 3:26 pm: Edit Post

Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program

Read and comment on this story from the Associated Press that the Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program. Morocco and Jordan were the only countries from which the Peace Corps pulled volunteers amid security concerns related to Iraq. Read the story at:

Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.

Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program

The Associated Press
7/22/03 1:17 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Peace Corps looks forward to reopening the Morocco program in the near future, a spokeswoman said.

Morocco and Jordan were the only countries from which the Peace Corps pulled volunteers amid security concerns related to Iraq. The Morocco program, which started in 1962, was also suspended for about six months in 1991 because of the war in Iraq then.

The Peace Corps will return to Jordan as early as January, director Gaddi Vasquez announced Tuesday.

The program in Jordan was halted last November amid security concerns in the region. Thirty to 40 volunteers were brought home after the State Department authorized nonessential embassy employees and dependents to leave the country. Jordan shares a border with Iraq.

Two hundred sixteen Peace Corps volunteers had worked in Jordan since the program began in 1997. Projects included community development initiatives, small enterprise development for women, environmental management and awareness and teaching English as a second language.

The Peace Corps suspended several programs in Central Asia shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Those programs have all reopened.

May 17, 2003 - Bombs shake Morocco

Read and comment on this story from The Guardian on May 17, 2003 on bombs that exploded in Morocco at a luxury business hotel, a Jewish community centre, a Spanish cultural centre and the Belgian consulate. The Peace Corps suspended its volunteer operations in Morocco on April 3, 2003, and has sent all Peace Corps volunteers back to the US for the duration of the hostilities. Read the story at:

Dozens killed by Morocco bombs*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.

Dozens killed by Morocco bombs

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Saturday May 17, 2003
The Guardian

At least 20 people were killed last night when four blasts shook the Moroccan city of Casablanca. The bombs exploded at a luxury business hotel, a Jewish community centre, a Spanish cultural centre and the Belgian consulate.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing dead bodies outside one of the targets, the Hotel Safir in the city centre, following the blast at just after 10pm local time.

There were no official reports of exactly how many people had been killed or injured, but one witness said that at least eight people were dead at the Casa de Espana, a Spanish cultural centre.

Ramon Iribarren, the spokesman for the Spanish embassy in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, said the final death toll was likely to be much higher than 20 people.

"We believe there are a minimum of 20 dead in the Casa de Espana alone," he told the Guardian last night. "Our consul has not been able to go inside but there are said to be bodies all over the place. It is a terrible, terrible scene."

Mr Iribarren said there were reports of three suicide bombers walking into the busy restaurant at the private club, which is frequented by Spaniards, other Europeans and Moroccans.

He said there was general confusion in Casablanca with some reports saying that suicide bombers had also walked into the Hotel Safir and others saying that car bombs had been used in the explosions.

Three suspects were arrested, according to Moroccan media reports.

"The front of the Hotel Safir is all damaged. I saw a burned-out red car in front of the hotel. I also saw what looked like three dead bodies lying under plastic sheets," Ahmed Djermouni, a manager at the nearby United Seaman's Service told the Guardian by telephone last night.

"There are many ambulances there. We heard the bombs. It must be like those bombings in London," said Mr Djermouni, who was evacuating the centre where lorry drivers and sailors from Britain and other countries stay.

The Casablanca explosions came only hours after the Foreign Office upgraded its travel advice to warn of a "clear terrorist threat" in six more east African countries four days after suicide bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia and a warning on Kenya.

Aboubakr Jammai, a witness to the Casablanca bombings, told the BBC that two of the explosions were car bombs.

A US state department official said: "The information we have is that there were four car bombings and that no US government facility was targeted."

Mr Jammai said the city's largest hospital was receiving a large number of casualties.

"We have information that there are many dead. There are body parts all over the place," he said. "In the biggest hospital of Casablanca, people keep arriving, many people injured and burned. At least eight people have been killed in one bombing."

Another of the scenes of devastation was outside the Israelite Alliance Circle. Morocco has a Jewish population of about 6,000-7,000, mainly based in Casablanca.

Moroccan journalists at the scene said the car bomb near the Belgian consulate may have been aimed at a nearby Jewish restaurant.

A spokesman for the Belgian foreign ministry, Didier Seeuws, told the Belgian news agency Belga that the consulate was heavily damaged. He said two policemen outside the building were killed and a security guard was hospitalised.

Foreign minister Louis Michel sent a message of condolences to the Moroccan government denouncing all forms of terrorism.

Morocco's interior minister was due to address the country be television last night to inform people of the attacks. He confirmed that they happened at around the same time, at 10pm local time in Casablanca. He said there had also been unconfirmed reports of grenades being thrown at some places.

Morocco recently jailed three Saudi members of al-Qaida who had been plotting attacks on American and British shipping in the Straits of Gibraltar. The same three men had allegedly also considered hitting civilian targets in Moroccan cities.

The US state department issued its most recent public announcement on the terrorism threat in North Africa last week, warning of the "continuing threat of anti-American violence" there.

The last specific advice it gave on Morocco was updated on April 3. "The potential for violence against US interests and citizens as a result of military action in Iraq, and for transnational terrorism, remains high in Morocco and in other countries in the region," read its announcement then, which was not given the higher-priority label of a "warning".

"As a result of the increased potential threat to US citizens and interests overseas, the US Peace Corps suspended its volunteer operations in Morocco on April 3, 2003, and has sent all Peace Corps volunteers back to the US for the duration of the hostilities," the department noted.

April 3, 2003 - Peace Corps Suspends Program in Morocco

Read and comment on this Peace Corps Press Release on April 3, 2003 that it has been determined that it would be in the best interest of Peace Corps volunteers to temporarily suspend the program in Morocco. PCOL previously reported on March 21 that Peace Corps Volunteers and Trainees in Morocco were being brought together at pre-arranged points throughout the country in consolidation. Yesterday a Morocco RPCV reported on our message boards that "As of today, April 2, 2003, volunteers *have* been evacuated from Morocco. I received an email from one of the evacuees today." Our sympathy to Morocco PCVs who have had to pack up and leave friends behind without saying good-bye and who will not be able to complete their service, but it is best to err on the side of caution in situations like this. Read the story at:

Peace Corps Suspends Program in Morocco*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.

Peace Corps Suspends Program in Morocco

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 3, 2003 -- Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez today announced the temporary suspension of the Peace Corps program in Morocco.

Peace Corps volunteers in Morocco were consolidated on March 20 to allow Peace Corps staff in country and at headquarters in Washington, D.C. to evaluate the political and public climate in Morocco as a result of the events in Iraq. Peace Corps also offered volunteers the option of Interrupted Service for those who preferred not to continue their service.

“After a thorough assessment of safety and security issues it was determined that it would be in the best interest of the Peace Corps volunteers to temporarily suspend the program in Morocco. More over, the uncertainty of a date or time for the volunteers to return to their job sites has proven to be a disruption to the continuity of their work,” stated Director Vasquez.

The Moroccan government has been extremely supportive of Peace Corps volunteers and programs in their country and very attentive to the needs of the volunteers during these difficult times. The Peace Corps values the relationship that has been established for more than 40 years and looks forward to returning volunteers to Morocco in the near future. Peace Corps staff will continue to operate the Peace Corps office in Morocco.

Family members may make inquiries about Peace Corps/Morocco by contacting the Peace Corps’ Office of Special Services, which maintains a 24-hour a day, 7 days a week duty system. The telephone number during normal business hours is 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470. The after hours number is 202-638-2574. Special Services can also be reached via e-mail at ossdutyofficer@peacecorps.gov.

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7/22/03

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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Morocco; Safety and Security of Volunteers

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