Belgium Accuses Morocco of Espionage; Ambassador Denies Allegations

"The allegations made against Morocco are unfounded, incomprehensible and unacceptable. (...) You cannot seek Morocco’s cooperation on sensitive issues and plead for more complicity in their management and at the same time discredit it publicly by unjustly accusing it of espionage and interference," he said in an interview with the online media Le Vif, stressing that in terms of security, Morocco’s experience and expertise are recognized internationally.

"Morocco is a reliable and responsible partner. Many attacks in Europe, but also in Belgium, have been thwarted with the cooperation of Moroccan services," said the Moroccan diplomat, before assuring that Morocco is not concerned by the case of the recognition of the Great Mosque of Brussels. "It’s a Belgian-Belgian affair. Moreover, all the organization that has recently been put in place, including the creation of the Association for the Management of the Great Mosque of Brussels, has intervened following the agreement established between the Executive of Muslims of Belgium (EMB) and the federal government," he added.

If, for Belgium, the Great Mosque is, as the ambassador hinted, of great interest for reasons that can be understood, for Morocco, it is a place of worship like any other. "There are dozens of mosques built, managed, financed and populated mainly by Moroccan-origin worshipers in Brussels alone. (...) For those who see Morocco’s hand everywhere, all the so-called Moroccan-leaning mosques, which number in the hundreds in Belgium, are entirely financed by the faithful. Morocco does not pay a single euro either for the buildings or for the imams...", he explained.

According to him, the target of the attacks is not the three people designated by the minister. "The security agent considered as a civil servant of the Consulate General and presented as proof of Morocco’s interference is the tangible demonstration of the senseless nature of the allegations," continued the Moroccan diplomat, noting that what is targeted is more the presence of Moroccans in the structures of the Great Mosque and especially the links with their spiritual sources. "The presence of certain fringe groups advocating deviant and dangerous Islamism should not lead to discrediting the vast majority of Muslims who only seek to live in peace with their environment and their spiritual sources," he nuanced.