Security forces bar Morocco demo, several hurt
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Security forces surround protesters in Casablanca (File)
CASABLANCA (AFP, Al Arabiya)
Security forces prevented about 100 people from holding a pro-reform demonstration Sunday in Morocco's biggest city, Casablanca, leaving several people wounded, witnesses said.
Security forces sealed off Mohammed V Square, the site of most demonstrations in the city, and forcefully kept protesters and pedestrians away, an AFP journalist and witnesses said.
Security forces prevented about 100 people from holding a pro-reform demonstration Sunday in Morocco's biggest city, Casablanca, leaving several people wounded, witnesses said.
Security forces sealed off Mohammed V Square, the site of most demonstrations in the city, and forcefully kept protesters and pedestrians away, an AFP journalist and witnesses said.
The activists were from the Islamist Justice and Charity movement, which is banned but tolerated in Morocco and is one of the most important political parties in the country.
"There were a dozen wounded, including a journalist with the Al Ahdath Almaghribia daily, during the forceful dispersal of the demonstrators," one witness said.
Another said "four members of the security forces were wounded by the demonstrators".
The wave of demonstrations sweeping the Arab world has seen some protests in Morocco, prompting King Mohammed VI to promise last week sweeping reforms, including a prime minister who is elected and not chosen by the royal house.
The Feb.20 movement said on its Facebook page that 135 of its members were detained on Sunday morning during a peaceful demonstration in Casablanca to demand reforms.
Some journalists at the scene told Al Arabiya that security forces confiscated their cameras, insulted them and beat some of them.
"There were a dozen wounded, including a journalist with the Al Ahdath Almaghribia daily, during the forceful dispersal of the demonstrators," one witness said.
Another said "four members of the security forces were wounded by the demonstrators".
The wave of demonstrations sweeping the Arab world has seen some protests in Morocco, prompting King Mohammed VI to promise last week sweeping reforms, including a prime minister who is elected and not chosen by the royal house.
The Feb.20 movement said on its Facebook page that 135 of its members were detained on Sunday morning during a peaceful demonstration in Casablanca to demand reforms.
Some journalists at the scene told Al Arabiya that security forces confiscated their cameras, insulted them and beat some of them.
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