Since the allegations of espionage against Morocco have been making headlines in the French press, Abdellatif Hammouchi , Director General of National Security, also Director General of Territorial Surveillance, has been pointed to. Rightly or wrongly?
The espionage allegations against Morocco have led to the opening of a judicial investigation into false allegations contained in articles published by foreign newspapers. The Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office has just given instructions to the Attorney General of the King near the Court of Appeal of Rabat and to the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ).
Morocco would have used the Israeli software Pegasus to spy on deputy François de Rugy, when he was Minister of Ecological Transition (2018-2019). The elected official demands explanations.
Shalev Hulio, CEO of the Israeli company NSO, assures that the numbers of King Mohammed VI , President Emmanuel Macron and the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) have never been targeted using the Pegasus spyware. Allegations that call into question the results of the investigation conducted by the international consortium created by Forbidden Stories.
King Mohammed VI and members of the royal family would have been selected as targets by a user of the Israeli Pegasus software. This is what the investigation conducted by the international consortium created by Forbidden Stories reveals.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which considers the Israeli group NSO, the designer of the Pegasus spyware, as a "digital predator", intends to take legal action in several countries like Morocco to have the group condemned for acts of espionage and persecution committed against journalists.
The information that a Moroccan security service would have used spyware developed by an Israeli company to target about thirty journalists is false according to the Moroccan authorities. The government denies it and reserves the right to take the measures it deems appropriate.
Morocco used the Pegasus software to spy on Moroccan, Algerian and French journalists. This is revealed by an investigation conducted by Forbidden Stories and its partners, including Amnesty International.
A plane from Morocco flew over Senegalese military zones in Ziguinchor, a city in the south of the country, without authorization. Is this a spying operation?
The Moroccan ambassador to Belgium, Mohammed Ameur, reacted to the statements of the Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) denouncing Moroccan interference and espionage in the context of the takeover of the Great Mosque of Brussels. He states that these are "unfounded, incomprehensible and unacceptable allegations".
Thanks to the current health crisis, economic intelligence is emerging as a tool for economic performance and a factor of competitiveness for Morocco. Go or perish, the time when it was considered a luxury is over.
The Grand Mosque of the Cinquantenaire in Brussels will not be able to resume its activities due to suspicions of Moroccan espionage. This is the decision of the justice system, which has issued a negative opinion.