Moroccan official denies anti-terrorist draft law withdrawal from parliament

Morocco's minister in charge of relations with the parliament, Saad Alami, denied news that the government withdrew the anti-terrorist draft law from the parliament for amendment.

Reacting to press reports carried out of late, Alami said, in a statement published on Tuesday by Arabic daily "Assahra Al Maghribiya," that the draft law is still on the table, stressing that the word "withdrawal" has never been brought up during the parliament's plenary session convened to examine the draft law.

This draft, the Moroccan official said, was part of nine others tabled for study during an extraordinary session of the parliament that approved five of them.

Following an exhaustive and deep debate on reasons belying such a text, the specialized commission is currently in the amendments phase, which is per se "a right of the deputies as well as that of the government," he went on.

The government, he further said, "remains open to the possibility to modify the draft law (should it be necessary to come up with a text out of a compromise of all parties).

The Commission of justice and human rights legislation at the House of Representatives (lower chamber), which has examined the anti-terrorist draft law in nine sessions and about 30-hour deliberations, set a fifteen-day deadline for the introduction of amendments.