Youssoufi saddened by attempts to undermine Morocco's credibility

Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi said he was saddened by attempts by a part of the press to undermine, discredit and harm the country's credibility.

"I am myself a journalist. I was among those who suffered first from repression in the independence era. I know the price," Youssoufi who was on an official visit to Germany said Monday.

In a statement to the Moroccan 2M TV channel, Youssoufi said --when speaking about the decision to ban the publishing and circulation of three weeklies, namely Le Journal, Assahifa and Demain -"legislation in my country has been changed in view of my activity and my friends' activity and I deeply deplore that young colleagues made this side-slipping instead of taking part in Morocco's progress, endeavoring to help Morocco overcome its problems."

The Moroccan government decided last Saturday to ban the three weeklies for having "deliberately attacked Morocco's most sacred institutional foundations."

The ban was decided after the weeklies published a dossier and comments on the circumstances of the coup d'état of 1972, led by General Oufkir, and a letter reportedly by Mohamed Basri, a leftist leader, sent in the seventies to the late first secretary of the USFP, Abderrahim Bouabib, and Abderrahmane Youssoufi, current USFP first secretary, showing they were involved in the coup attempt.

Youssoufi stated further that "these young journalists were only concerned about their personal comfort, their trade and the selling of pieces of paper. They have been on their undertaking for weeks and months."

He said the response of the country's public opinion and living forces shows that the government was right to take this (banning) measure.

Youssoufi had also told reporters in Berlin that the "Press in Morocco has never been as free as it is today" and that the ban was motivated by "moral considerations as well as by the interest of the country and the interest of the freedom of the press."