France squad for Morocco friendly

PARIS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - France coach Raymond Domenech on Thursday named a 24-man squad to face Morocco in a friendly on Nov. 16 and Ukraine in a Euro 2008 Group B qualifier on Nov. 21:

Goalkeepers: Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina), Mickael Landreau (Paris St Germain), Ulrich Rame (Girondins Bordeaux)

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Sebastien Squillaci (Olympique Lyon), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), William Gallas (Arsenal), Francois Clerc (Olympique Lyon)

Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Girondins Bordeaux), Lassana Diarra (Arsenal), Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Jerome Rothen (Paris St Germain), Jeremy Toulalan (Olympique Lyon), Samir Nasri (Olympique Marseille)

Forwards: Nicolas Anelka (Bolton Wanderers), Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyon), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyon), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Hatem Ben Arfa (Olympique Lyon)

Arab League Supports Morocco Over Spanish Enclaves

CAIRO (AFP)--The Arab League on Thursday expressed its total support for Morocco in its diplomatic spat with Spain over two "occupied" enclaves, the pan- Arab body said in a statement.

Citing a 1975 declaration, the 22-member group of which Morocco is also a member expressed its "total support for Morocco and expressed hope that this problem can be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means."

A visit by Spain's King Juan Carlos this week to the disputed enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla prompted Rabat to recall its ambassador to Madrid.

The king also reasserted Spain's sovereignty over the two towns on Morocco's Mediterranean coast that have been held for centuries by Spain.

The Arab League said the dispute should be solved "in the framework of friendship between the two countries which will reinforce historical relations between Spain and the Arab world."

Axa's nine-month revenue rises on strength in U.K., Turkey, Morocco

Axa said Thursday that nine-month revenue was up 22%, driven by strong property and casualty results in the U.K. and emerging markets in Turkey and Morocco.

Revenue in the first nine months of 2007 rose to EUR71.7 billion from EUR58.6 billion in the same period last year.

Axa's annual premium equivalent, or APE, was up 26% at EUR5.60 billion from EUR4.44 billion. APE measures new business growth for life insurance by combining the value of payments on new regular premium policies, and 10% of the value of payments made on one-time, single-premium products. The APE figure exceeds analyst expectations of EUR5.34 billion.

Europe's second largest insurance group by market value said the main contributors to APE growth were the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. while Japan remained negative.

Axa's property and casualty revenue in the first nine months was up 30% at EUR19.6 billion from EUR15.1 billion in the year-ago period, also supported by growth in the U.K. and emerging markets such as Turkey and Morocco.

"The property and casualty revenues demonstrated good resilience in a competitive pricing environment, especially in retail lines," chief executive Henri de Castries said in a statement.

Axa's CEO also said that the integration of Winterthur, which the French insurer acquired in 2006 for nearly EUR8 billion, continues to progress well.

"These figures confirm that the company is not suffering from the current market turmoil," Thomas Jacquet of Cheuvreux said. Axa features on Cheuvreux' selected list.

Axa is holding an investor day next week where "guidance is likely to be renewed," Jacquet said.

He noted, however, that American International Group's (AIG) 27% fall in third-quarter net profit reported Wednesday pressured the sector and overshadowed Axa's good figures. At 1033 GMT, shares in Axa were down EUR1.08, or 3.8%, to EUR27.74, while the broader CAC-40 was down 1.2%.

Company Web site: http://www.axa.com

Senegal government takes major stake in its flag carrier

Senegal will take a majority 75 percent stake in its national flag carrier Air Senegal International (ASI) at the expense of its previously controlling partner Morocco's Royal Air Maroc (RAM), it said on Tuesday.

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"(With) the management support by RAM having shown its limitations, Senegal has decided to re-take Air Senegal International," the transport ministry said in a statement after the company suffered a 19 million euro (27.4 million dollar) loss in 2006.

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"Re-capitalisation of the company will only be assured by Senegal," with a new share distribution in which "Morocco would hold 25 percent and Senegal 75," it said.

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The new shareholding structure takes effect on November 5.

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The two airlines struck a deal in 2001 in which RAM was the controlling shareholder with 51 percent while the remaining 49 percent was held by Senegal, in what was hailed as a model of cooperation between African countries.

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During its early days ASI flourished, plying west African routes deserted by the now defunct Air Afrique and linking the region with Europe.

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It was selected the best African airline in 2003. — AFP

Witness who saw 'Madeleine' in Morocco receives Mafia death threats

woman who claims to have seen Madeleine McCann being bundled into a taxi in Morocco, says she has received anonymous Mafia death threats.

Naoual Malhi, 24, says men claiming to work for the country's crime barons have warned her to keep her mouth shut about what she saw - and ditch plans to probe the sighting herself.

The mum-of-one, whose daughter Ines is Madeleine's age, has told how one growled: "Let this lie if you know what's good for you, your daughter and the rest of your family, otherwise you're a dead woman next time you're in Morocco."

But brave Naoual is pressing ahead with plans to defy the threats and return to her homeland to look for the girl she saw.

She is also getting the calls - which come from withheld numbers - taped so she can hand them over to police helping in the hunt for the missing four-year-old.

Naoual, who lives near Marbella, Spain, said: "I'm not frightened by the mafia.

"It's obvious I'm on to something otherwise they wouldn't be calling.

"They've warned me I'm going to be killed next time I step on Moroccan soil unless I shut my mouth about Madeleine.

"But I know the girl I saw getting into that taxi was her and I'm not going to stop until I find her.

We're taping all the phone calls and I'm going to give them to police to investigate.

"It could provide them with another good clue to her whereabouts."

Naoual claims to have seen a blonde girl with Madeleine's distinctive right iris in the arms of a middle-aged woman in Fnideq, northern Morocco, at the end of September.

She lost them after they headed to the former Spanish garrison town of Al Hoceima, further east along the Mediterranean coast.

Last month she travelled to north Africa with private investigators working for the McCanns - and says she received hundreds of phone calls from people who had seen the pair in various locations in Morocco's Rif Mountains.

They were last spotted in the remote town of Karia Ba Mohamed near Fez - but the trail is now thought to have gone cold.

Naoual says she and her family have been receiving death threats on a Moroccan mobile she put on a picture poster of Madeleine distributed throughout the area.

A newspaper reported at the weekend that criminal Godfathers in Morocco have been told police will scale back drug busts against them if they agree to help the Madeleine probe.

Police chiefs in Morocco have angrily denied their country is a child sex haven and say their searches for Madeleine have produced no evidence she is there.

Morocco: Protests continue in disputed Spanish enclaves

Rabat, 5 Nov. (AKI) - Angry protesters took to the streets in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta (Photo) in North Africa on Monday to protest against the visit of Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

The royal couple began their two-day official visit to Ceuta and Melilla on the Moroccan coast on Monday.

It is the first visit by a Spanish monarch to the disputed territories in 80 years. Ceuta and Melilla, autonomous cities administered by Spain, are considered by Morocco to be an integral part of its territory and of immense political and economic significance.

Tensions between the two nations have been strained over the visit with Morocco deciding to recall its ambassador to Spain on Saturday.

On Sunday, about 600 people protested in front of the Spanish consulate in Tetouane, in the north of the country. The protestors carried banners against the visit and asked that the enclaves come under the control of Morocco.

On Monday, the parliament in Rabat will convene a plenary session on the visit. Morocco's prime minister Abbas Al-Fasi is expected to make a strong speech on the issue in the early afternoon.

A group of parliamentarians are also expected to carry out a protest in front of the Spanish embassy in Morocco.

Throughout the years, Spanish leaders have stayed away from the controversial hotspot in North Africa due to its political sensitivity. The last Spanish monarch to visit the North African enclaves was Juan Carlos's grandfather Alfonso XIII in 1927.

Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero visited in 2006, the first official visit by a Spanish prime minister since 1980. The trip was considered as provocative by Moroccan authorities.

Morocco claims both locations to be "despoiled" territories, calling them by their Arabic equivalents of Sebta and Melillia. The cities have been under Spanish control for over 400 years.

The visit by Juan Carlos and Sofia coincides with the 32nd anniversary of the "Marcha Verde" or Green March.

It was a mass demonstration of over 350,000 unarmed people coordinated by the Moroccan government held to force Spain to give up the disputed area of Sahara to Morocco.

Abdurrahim Goumri, of Morocco finished second in the New York City Marathon in New York, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007

Martin Lel of Kenya won the men's title, making his kick in the final mile to edge Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 4 seconds in the first race without a pacesetter. Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa finished third in 2:11:25
Lel and Goumri reprised their finish at the London Marathon in April, when Lel won by 3 seconds in Goumri's first marathon.
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong finished 698th in 2:46:43

No reason to believe missing Madeleine in Morocco: minister

MARRAKESH, Morocco (AFP) - Authorities in Morocco have no reason to believe missing British toddler Madeleine McCann may be in the country as suggested by British press reports, Moroccan Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said Sunday.

British newspapers reported Saturday that Moroccan police were looking for the girl, who disappeared from southern Portugal in May, in the Rif mountains following reported sightings of her in the village of Fnidek east of Tangiers.

"We have no new evidence suggesting such a presence in Morocco," the minister told AFP when asked about the press reports.

"We have cooperated for a long time with Portuguese and British police through Interpol and we have not had any new development on this case up until now," he added.

A previous sighting of a girl in Morocco who looked like Madeleine by a Spanish tourist last month proved to be a false lead, the minister recalled.

Madeleine vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal on May 3, a few days before her fourth birthday, while her parents dined nearby with friends.

Kate and Gerry McCann, who are both doctors, returned to England in the beginning of September after being named as official suspects in the case by Portuguese police. They have not been charged.

The director of a Spanish private detective agency hired by the couple to look for Madeleine has said he believes she was abducted and taken to Morocco.

Spanish PM says Morocco relations 'very good' despite royals row

MADRID (AFP) - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero insisted Sunday that relations with Morocco were "very good", despite a row over King Juan Carlos' planned visit to two Spanish enclaves on the Moroccan coast.

The diplomatic spat erupted after it was announced that the Spanish king would be visiting the towns of Ceuta and Melilla on Monday and Tuesday.

The disputed territories have been in Spanish hands since the 15th and 16th centuries but are claimed by Morocco.

Morocco announced on Friday it was recalling its ambassador to Spain in protest at the royal visit.

Zapatero told Spanish newspaper Publico Sunday that he would not make any comment on Rabat's decision but said Spanish-Moroccan relations were "very good and will continue to be very good".

"The monarchs are going to demonstrate their attachment to the citizens of Melilla and Ceuta," he said of the visit by the king and his wife Queen Sofia.

Zapatero himself visited the two enclaves last year -- the first official visit by a Spanish prime minister since the early 1980s. That visit was also not well received in Rabat.

On Saturday Morocco's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, national defence and Islamic affairs said its members would be staging a protest sit-in at the Spanish embassy in Rabat to express their indignation.

The Moroccan government has called the royal visit "regrettable". It regards the two towns as "occupied" by Spain.

Carlos and Queen Sofia are expected to visit Ceuta on Monday, where they will visit local officials and have lunch, before moving on to Melilla.

Around 700 extra Spanish security officers will guard them during the trip, according to El Pais.

The visit comes in the wake of a threat from Ayman Al-Zawahiri, number two in the Al-Qaida network, calling for a jihad against US, French and Spanish interests in northern Africa.

However, security around the royals is "always very strict and there is no need to modify that", Spanish Defence Minister Antonio Camacho told ABC newspaper Sunday.

Morocco takes fresh Qaeda threat seriously: interior minister

MARRAKESH, Morocco (AFP) - Morocco takes seriously a new threat made by Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri, who called for holy war against North African leaders in an audiotape message, the interior minister said Sunday.

"As I have always stressed, I believe the terrorist threat is permanent and we must be extremely vigilant of it," Chakib Benmoussa told AFP when asked about Zawahiri's message before a meeting here with his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie.

"We never neglect any risk ... We are integrating it in the reflections which we are having today on how to face up to external risks," he added.

The two ministers are scheduled to take part in a four-day Interpol annual general assembly which gets underway in Marrakesh Monday.

Zawahiri called for a holy war against North African leaders and their French, Spanish and US allies in an audiotape message broadcast Saturday in which he announced a new Libyan arm of the militant network.

In the message released on the Internet, he also called on members of Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement to overthrow the Palestinian president, saying he had turned the movement into an "annex of the CIA".

He urged militants to target US, French and Spanish interests in North African countries in the recording, the authenticity of which could not immediately be verified.

He also called for the overthrow of the leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco over their support for Washington's so-called war on terror.

"Support... your children in fighting our enemies and cleansing our lands of their slaves (Moamer) Kadhafi, Zine El Abidine (Ben Ali), (President Abdelaziz) Bouteflika and (King) Mohammed VI," he said.