Six Months Without Madeleine McCann: Morocco Sighting Legit?

By Keith Walters Jones Nov 3, 2007

Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, May 3rd. That was a full six months ago. She was snatched from the resort of Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, just days short of her fourth birthday. One hundred and eighty days later, it appears that authorities are no closer to finding the now four year old little girl. Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann have commented on the grim date.

Six Months Without Madeleine McCann: Morocco Sighting Legit?

Gerry writes, "Today marks six months since Madeleine was taken from us. It is an incredibly long time for us but must be even longer for Madeleine. It is so painful for us simply being separated, but all the more distressing when we have to speculate about the situation Madeleine finds herself. We have no idea whether she is suffering but we have to hope and pray that she is being treated like a princess, as she deserves."

***

Continuing: "This afternoon there will be prayer vigils in Liverpool, Praia da Luz and many friends will be praying in Glasgow. Tonight we will be attending an ecumenical service to pray for Madeleine and other children who are suffering. There is again a lot of media presence in Rothley and the upshot is that millions of people know Madeleine is still missing and that we will not give up looking for her."

He concludes with this pea, "We urge anyone who may have information that might help us find Madeleine to call us on the confidential number +34 902 300 213, which is manned by private detectives in Spain or e-mail investigation@findmadeleine.com, or contact the police."

***

There have been more reports of a sighting in Morocco. The UK Daily Mirror reports that a Moroccan police chief yesterday said officers were scouring the north of the country after the most recent sighting of a Madeleine look-alike. Mum Naoual Malhi saw a little blonde girl with Madeleine's distinctive eye mark being bundled into a taxi in the town of Fnidk by a Moroccan woman and driven away.

According to the UK Daily Express she said, " She said: “I am certain it was Madeleine. She had the same mark of Madeleine that I have seen in the posters and looked exactly like her.” Mrs. Malhi said she was told by police that more than 100 people had called them to report seeing the missing four-year-old in the same mountain area.

***

She alerted police about a month ago that she had seen Madeleine with an older woman, who tried to hide the girl as she whisked her away in a battered Mercedes taxi. Ms Malhi, who has a four-year-old daughter, was shopping in the coastal town of Fnidek during a holiday when she spotted the girl with a middle-aged woman.

“I went to Morocco on August 19. I saw Madeleine between August 22 and September 7,” she said last night.

From nationalledger
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272617038.shtml

Moroccan ambassador quits Spain amid tension over royal visit

RABAT (AFP) — Morocco's ambassador to Spain returned home on Saturday as tensions between the two nations rose over the Spanish king's planned visit to two disputed territories in north Africa.

"Mr Omar Azziman returned to Morocco today for consultations," a Moroccan government official said.

Spanish officials expressed surprise Saturday at the level of controversy sparked by the announcement of the visit.

Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso told radio Cadena Ser on Saturday that the visit was not organised "against anyone".

He called for moderation to avoid "a deterioration in relations between the two countries, which currently have very good relations and share numerous interests".

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Madrid did not intend to take similar measures and recall its ambassador from Rabat, saying that he hoped Morocco's "sovereign" decision "would not affect" bilateral relations.

Morocco had announced Friday that it would recall its ambassador from Madrid to protest King Juan Carlos' visit next week to the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla neighbouring Morocco on the north African coast.

Moroccan groups also planned demonstrations against the king's visit.

"Moroccans do not intend to stand still before the offence being carried out against them, and protests are planned," Moroccan senator Yehya Yehya told AFP.

Rabat has always considered Ceuta and Melilla to be part of its territory, although they have been under Spanish control for more than 400 years.

A visit last year by Spain's socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to Ceuta and Melilla was not well received in Rabat.

It was the first official visit by a Spanish prime minister to the two enclaves since the early 1980s.

Spanish daily El Pais reported Saturday that the Moroccan announcement surprised Madrid, especially because Moratinos was on a semi-private trip in Morocco to attend a cultural festival.

"If Moratinos had any idea that this was going to happen, he would not have spent the long weekend in Morocco," a Spanish diplomat told El Pais.

A ministry spokesman confirmed to AFP that Moratinos was in Morocco and slated to return to Spain on Saturday afternoon.

Spanish newspapers called Rabat's reaction to King Juan Carlos' visit disproportionate.

One editorial in El Mundo pointed out that Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish territories and have been so "since the 15th and 16th centuries".

The Moroccan press had a different take, noting that the visit coincides with the 22nd anniversary of the "Green March". This was when 350,000 Moroccans marched into Western Sahara, located south of Morocco, to force Spain to give over the territory.

"The Spanish royalty is coming to open the famous Pandora's box without any apparent worries of the consequences that their decision brings," wrote Le Matin newspaper.

Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are expected to visit Ceuta on Monday, where they will visit local officials and have lunch, before moving on to Melilla.

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The cultural impact of the french colonialism on the Moroccan identity

The nature of colonialism in the form of ancient and modern history is to exploit peoples and vulgarize them if possible at all levels, including the exploitation of culture. This immensity concept of the cultural activity in the western colonial period arises in Morocco just after the treaty of protection in 1912, which played a vital rule supporting and stabilizing the French colonial presence in the area. Thus, the French cultural immerse in Morocco affected the national principles by injecting economy, education, media, administrations, politics… external values that do not correspond with the Moroccan identity at any point. Consequently, Arabic for instance takes place only in poetry and as the language of the Quran, religion and traditions. In other words, it has become believed that it is unfit as a language of the modern age just as the same as any other national structure.
by Abdelkrim Amrani

Private detectives target Morocco in search for Madeleine

MADRID (AFP) — The Spanish private detective agency hired by the parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann believes she was abducted and taken to Morocco, its director has revealed.

The managing director of Barcelona-based Metodo 3, Francisco Marco, told daily newspaper La Vanguardia he was confident that his agency would find Madeleine, who went missing in southern Portugal, and said her parents were not involved in her disappearance.

"A blond girl like Madeleine is a symbol of social status in Morocco. That is the way it is and I can't tell you more," he said.

Marco, 35, said he had already traveled to Morocco since being hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to pursue a lead that proved to be false.

"I bought some dolls at the airport for Madeleine. Unfortunately the lead was false. But I have kept those dolls in my house and will bring them in my suitcase on the day that I find Madeleine," he said.

The agency has 40 people working on the case in Spain and Morocco and has told the girl's parents that they expect to find her within six months, he said.

Metodo 3 focuses on cases of business fraud but also locates about 300 missing people each year, he added.

Last week the agency began operating a 24-hour hotline to gather information about the missing girl from callers in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Madeleine vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal on May 3, a few days before her fourth birthday, while her parents dined nearby with friends.

Kate and Gerry, who are both doctors, returned to England in the beginning of September after being named as official suspects in the case by Portuguese police. They have not been charged.

"Our technicians interviewed the McCanns for 10 hours, enough time to detect if they were deceiving us. My specialists assured me that they are not hiding anything, this is why we decided to help them," said Marco.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwBOh4Ap1-7VbY5XlZJ9o01vjjog

Egypt to host Arab Olympic Games

2 November 2007

DUBAI — November 11 will mark the launch of the 11th Arab Olympic Games, which will be held in Egypt this year, a Press release said. This event was previously hosted by Egypt in 1965.

A Ministerial committee, consisting of 13 Ministers and headed by Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif, has been formed to oversee the event. In addition, an organising committee for the games has been formed, headed by Hassan Sakr, the head of the Egyptian National Council for Sports, and consists of a further 21 committee members.

The organisation of such tournaments aims at bringing together and uniting the Arab people as well as bringing competitive sports in Arab countries to a higher level in order to prepare and train athletes mentally and physically for global tournaments. The Arab Games is an exceptional event as it promotes the communication between the Arab youth under the umbrella of the League of Arab States, as well as providing exposure for the Arab champions. It goes without saying that sport is one of the most popular ways of bringing people closer together and resolving conflicts.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=sports&xfile=data/sports/2007/November/sports_November45.xml

Israel's human comedy wins Sakura Grand Prix

Ikuko Kitagawa / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer

The weeklong Tokyo International Film Festival closed with the top prize awarded to The Band's Visit--a heartwarming human comedy of awkward relationships between Egyptians and Israelis.

"Every time you get something big, your first thoughts are really small. You think, 'I should go this way or that way'...Only after, do you [feel], 'Ah it's really good,'" director Eran Kolirin said at a press conference, recalling his thoughts when he stood on the stage as his film was chosen for the Sakura Grand Prix at the closing ceremony.

Sasson Gabai, the lead actor in the film, said he was also surprised.

"When they announced the other winners, I said, 'Ah, not this prize, not this prize...' Gabai said. "I then thought I shouldn't expect that much and I lost hope toward the end."

An Egyptian police band led by Tewfiq (Gabai) is invited to perform at an Arab Cultural Center in Israel. Because of inadequate English proficiency, they get lost and wind up staying overnight at an Israeli home. The band's blue uniforms with peaked hats comically represent the nervousness of the Egyptians, while the Israelis' confusion over how to deal with the serious-looking Egyptians is realistically portrayed, evoking laughter.

The film, which will open in December, was jointly made by people of different ethnicities living in the region.

During the press briefing, the shy and modest Kolirin often got help from Gabai when the director was baffled by questions from reporters. When one asked the director, "Why do you think people like this film so much?" Gabai answered instead.

"I think it's the need for comfort and compassion...They [characters in the film] don't have the barriers, they don't have the citizenship, they don't have the countries behind them, the professions, their own local environment. Their situation brings them together, and once they succeed in trying, at least, to interact with each other...anybody who sees it will [have] compassionate feelings," he said.

Chinese film The Western Trunk Line, directed by Li Jixian, took home the Special Jury Prize. The Award for Best Director was given to Peter Howitt of Dangerous Parking, in which he also was the main character, Noah, a desperate alcoholic and drug addict.

The Award for Best Actor went to teenager Damian Ul in the Polish film Trick, while Shefali Shah in Gandhi My Father got the best actress prize. The Award for Best Artistic Contribution went to The Waltz, directed by Italian Salvatore Maira.

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Mideast reality

This year's Tokyo International Film Festival presented a greater variety of Middle Eastern films, thanks to the expansion of the selections with the "Winds of Asia--Middle East" division. Crossing the Dust, by Iraqi Kurdish director Shawkat Amin Korki, is one such movie that vividly depicts the lives of Arabs and Kurds after the collapse of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

"I wanted viewers to think about how people should live their lives," the director said during his visit to Tokyo for the festival. "Long-lasting conflicts and wars tend to take humanity away, but I wanted to convey the idea that people are human beings after all."

Two Kurdish soldiers find a lost Arab boy named Saddam while they are transporting food, and try to locate his parents. The film realistically depicts the situation in the region, including how U.S. soldiers look to ordinary people from a Kurdish point of view, allowing us to see something we can't see from media coverage.

(Nov. 2, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20071102TDY14003.htm