Former Tunisian President Marzouki Denies Rumors of Morocco Travel Ban

The information was circulated on social media. Moncef Marzouki would be banned from entering Moroccan territory. While the information has been circulating rapidly in recent days, the former Tunisian president has sought to deny it through a post published on his official Facebook account. "To definitively clarify this matter, I informed the Moroccan authorities, according to protocol, of my desire for a family visit, it being public knowledge that my father lived in Morocco for more than thirty years as a political refugee, that he had married there and that he had two daughters and a son who live there with their children and grandchildren. That is, my Moroccan family, of which I am proud," he writes.

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In response, the Moroccan authorities informed him, according to his writings, that his request was admissible, but that he had to fulfill an obligation: to refrain from any declaration on the internal and external policy of Morocco. Moncef Marzouki assures that he would have spontaneously accepted, including refraining from any contact with political and human rights actors. "Except that it is impossible since, for more than a quarter of a century, I have maintained contacts with Moroccan actors in these sectors," assures the former Tunisian head of state, adding that he has finally postponed his visit to the kingdom to a later date. "Based on these elements, I reiterate that there has never been a question of a ban on staying, but of conditions that were changing rapidly," he specifies.

Moncef Marzouki also mentioned the conflict between Israel and Hamas. He says he salutes "the courageous position taken by Morocco, its king and its people, in support of the Palestinian people in general and ours in Gaza." He also renewed the expression of his esteem "for Morocco and the Moroccans, for Algeria and the Algerians, for Libya and the Libyans, for Mauritania and the Mauritanians and, of course, for my family and dear Tunisia." Without failing to renew his wish to see the peoples of the Arab Maghreb overcome their dissensions to preserve the interests and future of future generations in the region.