King Mohammed VI’s Anger Prompts Shakeup in Moroccan Royal Palace Security

The wind of change that has blown on the Directorate of Security of the Royal Palaces (DSPR), under the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) has led to the suspension of several agents including senior officials, reports the daily Al Massae.

The same source reports that these elements committed professional faults through what appears to be a "dispute" between the elements attached to the honor squadron service of the Royal Gendarmerie and those of the honor squadron service of the DGSN.

This incident, recalls the daily Assabah, was the cause of the King’s anger, and broke out in the early hours of Sunday, September 22, between the elements of the DSPR and those of the Royal Gendarmerie for the surveillance and security of royal residences and palaces.

This same incident can be justified by the orders received at the time by the services of the Honor Squadron Groups, whether those of the Royal Gendarmerie or those of the DGSN. These orders initially required them to remove their elements from the royal residences. Later, the DSPR and the gendarmerie also received orders to withdraw their elements from the same residences.

As a consequence, the excluded elements were transported by trucks and cars to the barracks of Rabat, Salé and Témara and were replaced by units from the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and the Auxiliary Forces.

According to the same source, King Mohammed VI ordered, as Supreme Commander and Chief of Staff of the FAR, the replacement of the excluded members by other formations.

It should be noted that the royal anger came after a dispute between the elements of the Royal Gendarmerie and those of the National Security on the prerogatives incumbent on them in the surveillance of the palaces.