Liz Cheney: Morocco could be a model for countries of the region

Arabic News ^ | 04/14/05

[JustaCowgirl]

Liz Cheney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs believes "Morocco could be a model for countries of the region," noting that "King Mohammed VI has put the country on the path of modernization while respecting Morocco's culture and traditions."

Cheney, who ended Tuesday a three-day official visit to Morocco, told Morocco Times that reforms instituted in the north African country were among the top issues she discussed with Moroccan officials.

"We have also discussed the new political parties' law and the new press code, which is before the parliament," she said, adding that talks also touched on education, notably girls' schooling.

On the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)'s assistance to Morocco, Cheney said "we provide technical assistance as the (Moroccan) government looks at the reforms they need to implement once we have the FTA."

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed between the two countries in June 2004, eliminates tariffs on 95 percent of all bilateral trade between the United States and Morocco, and includes stringent protections for intellectual property and the environment.

MEPI has granted USD 6 million to assist Morocco in the framework of the US-Moroccan FTA, and allocated USD 2 million to fund a programme related to the new family law (Mudawana).

According to Cheney, MEPI aims to disseminate knowledge about the family law approved by the Moroccan parliament last year to promote the situation of women and enhance genre equality.

She pointed out that the purpose of programs like MEPI is to support "reforms coming from people themselves and from the government."

"I think reforms are absolutely coming from the inside. Morocco is the model for the whole region in this regard."

MEPI, she explained, is not trying to impose reforms from outside, noting that it supports "universal values including the right to education, the right to vote, the right to have a jobÉ etc."

"These are a whole range of issues to which we will respond with our resources to the changes that are coming from people who live in each individual country," she said.

[cubreporter]

Thank you for all of those wonderful photos. I remember seeing the family on stage and Lyn holding her little son. It is wonderful to see a real family who love each other. The little girls in the Inaugural parade were sooooo sweet. Reminded me of the girls in "little women" with how they were dressed. I love the Cheney Family and the Bush Family. It is sure a pleasure and a blessing to have such DIGNIFIED, LOVING, FUN, families in the White House and the Vice President's House after so long. God bless them all and thank you again for the beautiful photos of what familes should look like rich, poor or middle class. Not the money of any of those classes.. I am talking about the love and our responsibility in raising the children we bring into this world. The Cheney's and the Bush Families have a lot to be proud of with their children.

[snugs]

How true a real family who care and support each other. I remember how each time the VP has been hospitalized even including the tests last November how his daughter Liz is there immediately. The whole family support each other in all areas of their lives.

When the VP was discharged from hospital in November 2000 yet again his family were there for him not just wife but his daughter and grand daughter, here is a picture of them leaving the hospital together. Grandpa and grand daughter totally absorbed in each other regardless of the media circus that was going on around them.

I also think of the wonderful example that the grand parents are giving the grand children of a life of dedication and service plus dedication and love to each other. I am reminded of a photo taken at one of the inauguration balls in January. After a long day from early morning to into the evening the Cheneys had been on the go yet still were fresh enough to enjoy the simple pleasure of just being with each other, no one else counted at that precise moment.