On this day March 30, 1912

Sultan Abdelhafid signed the Treaty of Fez (Arabic: معاهدة فاس‎), gave up the sovereignty of Morocco to the French, making the country a protectorate.

Sultan Abdelhafid of Morocco

Germany recognized French and Spanish territories in Morocco, receiving in return territories in the French Equatorial African colony of Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo).

This land, known as Neukamerun, became part of the German colony of Kamerun, part of German West Africa, although they only lasted briefly until they were captured by the allies in World War I.

The area is partly marsh land where sleeping sickness is pervasive. Also as part of the treaty, Germany ceded France a small area of territory to the south-east of Fort Lamy, now part of Chad.

On this day February 26, 1976

The rebel movement Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Arabic: ‘الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية‎) in Western Sahara.

The SADR is a partially recognised state which claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony.

The SADR government currently controls about 20% of the territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the “Liberated Territories” or “Free Zone.” Morocco controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces.

On this day November 6, 1975

Demonstrators in Morocco began the Green March to Spanish Sahara, calling for the “return of the Moroccan Sahara.”

The Green March was a well-publicized popular march of enormous proportions. On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II to cross into Western Sahara.

Produção de etanol no Marrocos em cooperação com Brasil

A ministra da Energia, das Minas, da Água e do Ambiente do Marrocos, Amina Benkhadra, demonstrou, durante encontro com o ministro das Relações Exteriores, Celso Amorim, interesse do governo de seu país na produção de etanol, apesar de ser produtor de petróleo.

Amina pediu a cooperação do Brasil, por meio da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), para estudar que plantas seriam mais adequadas para a produção de etanol em Marrocos. Na ocasião, Amorim convidou Amina para participar de uma conferência ministerial que o Brasil está organizando para novembro, em São Paulo, justamente para tratar do etanol brasileiro.

Two suicide bombers attack US targets in Casablanca

Two bombs went off today in Boulevard Moulay Youssef in central Casablanca, Morocco. Two men, reported to be brothers, blew themselves up outside and the United States Consulate and its culture center, respectively. The bombers both died and a woman, who was passing by, was injured.

An eyewitness told BBC News: “I saw a man talking to a policeman, trying to distract him I guess, while another man walked by to the consulate and blew himself up over there.”