Al Hayat: US engages dialogue solely with legal Islamist movements, US official
Morocco-USA, Politics, 6/23/2005

The United States engages dialogue only with legal Islamist movements that ban violence and extremism, said a US official in an interview published Wednesday by the London-based Al Hayat daily.

The American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he is astonished by news reports on alleged dialogue with Islamist movements in Morocco, especially as they dealt with the subject as a change in the stance of the American administration.

He said his country considered the Moroccan unauthorized Islamist group of "Jamaat Al adl Walihsane," led by Sheikh Abdeslam Yassine, among extremist movements in the Middle East, noting however that compared with other movements such as Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah, it looks more moderate.

The US official said his country is impressed by the openness in Morocco where moderate Islamic movements play a constructive role.

Al Hayat newspaper deems that the American official's statement come after the change of the USA's stance vis-a-vis Islamist movements following a report drawn up by an institution specialized on political studies which concluded that dialogue with moderate Islamists would isolate extremists.

Al Hayat also reports a statement of US ambassador in Rabat, Thomas Riley, who said Washington encourages dialogue with everybody and that the US's attitude towards legal moderate Islamist movements that reject violence is been reviewed.

Previous Stories:
  US calls for 'dialog' and 'cooperation' to solve Sahara dispute   (6/22/2005)
  FTA to allow Morocco export non-Moroccan textile products to USA   (6/4/2005)
  US senators back political and peaceful solution to Moroccan Sahara issue   (6/3/2005)

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