The Moroccan Minister of Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, has once again raised Morocco’s claim over Ceuta and Melilla, doing so on the occasion of a religious festival presided over by King Mohamed VI.
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The monarch reappeared on Monday night at the Royal Palace of Rabat to preside over the ceremony marking the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, one of the main celebrations of the Muslim tradition, with the participation of Crown Prince Moulay Hassan and the head of government, Aziz Ajanuch, among others.
In his presence, the Minister of Religious and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Tawfiq, highlighted the relationship and bond that Ceuta has with the Moroccan religious tradition and, according to the official Moroccan agency MAP, recalled that two prominent authors of works on the figure of the Prophet Muhammad were linked to the city, highlighting the work “Dalail Al-Khayrat”, by Imam Al-Jazouli, as a reference element for Moroccans “in their mobilization to liberate the occupied cities in the Atlantic Ocean at the beginning of the modern era“.
Although Tawfiq did not explicitly link this historical reference to the recent events in the autonomous city, his words come in the monarch’s first public appearance after the massive crossing, gaining special relevance.
The words of the Minister of Religious Affairs, using religious and historical arguments, come after statements made in recent weeks, following the entry of about 80,000 migrants into Ceuta between July 30 and 31, by the Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, who has claimed the “historical and geographical rights” of Morocco over Ceuta and Melilla and raised the need for a dialogue on the issue with Spain.
The event, according to the MAP agency, also included the presence of the presidents of the two Chambers of Parliament, royal advisors, government members, presidents of constitutional bodies, the senior officers of the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, members of the Islamic diplomatic corps accredited in Rabat, as well as several ulemas and other civilian and military personalities.
The monarch arrived in Rabat in a vehicle driven by the crown prince and in which two of his closest advisors, Fuad Alí el Himma and Taieb Fassi Fihri, were traveling, according to various images shared on social media.