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Six Hirak Detainees Renounce Moroccan Citizenship

Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
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Six Hirak Detainees Renounce Moroccan Citizenship

Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Moroccans take part in a demonstration against official abuses and corruption in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco early June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

After months, Nasser Zefzafi – head Of Hoceima movement – and five of his friends announced in a statement renouncing their Moroccan citizenship as an objection over their arrest.

«An official request has been sent by the detainees to the Minister of Justice and the President of the Public Prosecutor's Office. Do not take it lightly», Ahmed Zefzafi, Nasser's father said in a Facebook live video.

Ahmed conveyed the letter of the six detainees who are serving sentences ranging between 15 to 20 years over Hoceima protests in 2017. They renounced their Moroccan citizenship and requested that the international community bears its responsibility towards them.

Nasser's father defended them saying that those corrupt should be arrested, instead. He described the detainees’ decision as ‘dangerous’, saying that their demand to renounce the nationality is the last thing they could do to be heard.

Ahmed addressed King Mohammed VI, appealing for a release of the detainees.

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France Highlights Its Role in Brokering Lebanon Ceasefire Deal

Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
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France Highlights Its Role in Brokering Lebanon Ceasefire Deal

Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)

France’s foreign minister underlined his country’s role in brokering an agreement that ended fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group alongside the US, saying the deal wouldn’t have been possible without France’s special relationship with its former protectorate.

“It’s a success for French diplomacy and we can be proud,” said the minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, speaking hours after the ceasefire went into effect Wednesday.

“It is true that the United States have a privileged relationship with Israel. But with Lebanon, it’s France that has very old ties, very close ties,” the minister added. “It would not have been possible to envisage a ceasefire in Lebanon without France being involved on the front line.”

France will be involved in monitoring the ceasefire, Barrot noted, with 700 French soldiers deployed as part of the 10,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, that has been patrolling the border area between Lebanon and Israel for nearly 50 years.

The minister said France will also work to strengthen Lebanese troops that will deploy in the south of the country as part of the ceasefire, although he didn’t specify what that might include.