Moroccan King Muhammad VI launches the new radio

By Abdul Hafez Al-Seretti, IOL Correspondent

RABAT, October 20 (IslamOnline.net) – The launch of a Qur'an radio in Morocco by the advent of the holy month of Ramadan is a bid to remove the mix-up between Islam and terrorism and purge the religious discourse from fanaticism, Moroccan analysts said on Wednesday, October 20.

“King Mohammad VI Qur'an Radio comes to underline and underscore that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism as parroted by some western media,” Moroccan journalist Mohammad Al-Sharqi told IslamOnline.net.

“We are indeed in a dire need to present a comprehensive concept about Islam, away from fanaticism and extremism.”

King Mohammad VI launched on Saturday, October 16, the new enlightening radio.

The radio’s programs will focus on a message of tolerance and openness inspired from the holy Qur'an and the Sunna (prophet's deeds) in Arabic, French and Amazigh (Berber language).

The new radio is operating under the supervision of the Moroccan Ministry of Habous (public endowments) and Islamic Affairs, and the national radio RTM.

It will be broadcast 10 hours a day during Ramadan to some Moroccan cities such as Rabat, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakesh and Tagier.

It will later be extended to cover the whole Moroccan cities and some African countries.

Shield

Moroccan analysts said the new radio serves as a shield for the young Moroccans against fanaticism and fundamentalism.

It will further help clear the fog that enveloped the world since the September 11 attacks and the Casablanca bombings, they added.

The radio is part of an all-inclusive plan set up by the Moroccan monarch to revamp the domain of religious affairs in the kingdom following the Casablanca bombings, according to observers.

King Mohammed VI unveiled last May a strategy aimed at restructuring of the Ministry of Habous (public endowments) and Islamic Affairs and establishing two directorates to supervise education and mosques.

"The launch of the new radio comes as part of a new policy following the bloody Casablanca bombings, reflecting the importance of the mass media in preserving the unity of the predominant Maleki religious school in Morocco and presenting the true essence of Islam," political analyst Zakareya Melod told IOL.

To prove successful, he added, the radio should be based on qualified media cadres, state-of-the-art communications technology and good finance.

In five nearly simultaneous attacks on the evening of May 16, booby-trapped cars exploded outside an international hotel, a Jewish cultural center and an Italian restaurant, while bombers blew themselves up at a Spanish club and an abandoned Jewish cemetery, all in downtown Casablanca.

Moroccan investigators concluded that the attacks in Casablanca were organized by Salafia Jihadia, which mainly recruits among residents of poor suburbs in cities such as Casablanca, but they have not ruled out participation by international groups.