Moroccan Scholar Resigns from Muslim Union After Controversial Tindouf Statement

"Holding firmly to my strong and intransigent positions and opinions, and in order to exercise my freedom of expression without conditions or pressure, I have decided to submit my resignation from the presidency of the International Union of Muslim Scholars," the Moroccan preacher wrote in a message broadcast this Sunday, August 28, 2022.

This resignation follows his recent controversial statement. Ahmed Raïssouni had claimed that the Moroccan people are ready to march on Laayoune and Tindouf. "He is ready to stay there for whole weeks. [...] Morocco must become again as before the European colonization, of which Mauritania was not a part," he added. These remarks provoked reactions in Algeria but also in Mauritania. Some Algerian preachers even called for his resignation from the head of the UIOM.