RABAT, May 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The cultural capital of Morocco Marrakech plays host Friday, May 6, to a music festival organized by the American NGO Friendship Caravan with the aim of “promoting media-friendly grass roots cross-cultural communications between Americans and the Arab world.”

The fest, however, raised fears of Moroccan Muslims and Christians alike that the three-day event is a part of a proselytizing campaign under the rock-and-roll cloak, but the fears were categorically denied by Moroccan officials.

“Mark your calendars now for May 6-8, 2005,” Caravan President Michael Kirtley said in a message on the NGO’s Web site.

“In the land of Morocco, in the ancient city of Marrakech, an historic gathering is planned between Christians and Muslims. Musicians from United States and Morocco will be performing on the same stage in a collective celebration for peace and tolerance.”

American pop groups and both modern and traditional groups from Morocco will participate in the rock festival, including Newsboys, Jeremy Camp, Delirious, Joy Williams, and Phil Keaggy.

The Royal Air Maroc, the flagship carrier of Morocco, is a major sponsor for the Caravan’s activities in Morocco.

The Council of Churches in Morocco, which falls under the authority of the French Catholic Church, turned down a government invitation to attend the gala.

It criticized the festival organizers, warning that the fest is a ruse by the American Evangelical Church to get a foothold in Morocco.

MPs for the opposition Justice and Development party also questioned the real motives behind the festival.

They warned the government that such events would have serious consequences for Moroccans.

The party’s mouthpiece Al-Tajdid newspaper ran an editorial last week asking: “Is it a Friendship or Proselytizing Caravan?”

Government sources told IslamOnline.net that Moroccan officials decided to cancel planned inter-faith seminars on the sidelines of the festival after they had smelled a rat.

Moroccan officials, however, sought to play down such fears.

“This festival is primarily aimed at enhancing US-Moroccan ties and shining up the image of the United States in Morocco,” Marrakech municipality chief Abdel Ali Domou has told reporters.

“It is just some sort of a cross-cultural festival between the two countries,” he added.

The Moroccan city of Fez hosted Monday, May 2, the “Morocco-USA Business Forum,” which was supposed to bring together more than one hundred business entrepreneurs and professional leaders from both Morocco and the United States for four days.

The proselytizing fears raised after press reports that dozens of poor Muslim families in Morocco had converted to Christianity.

The reports said that proselytizers are playing on the dire need of families living below the poverty line.