RABAT, Dec 14, 2012 (AFP)
Tens of thousands of devotees gathered on Friday at the historic Sunna mosque in central Rabat for the funeral of Abdessalam Yassine, founder of a radical Moroccan Islamist movement.
The funeral of Sheikh Yassine, an outspoken critic of the monarchy who died on Thursday aged 84, was to take place after weekly prayers, with his body to be buried in Martyrs Cemetery next to the Kasbah in the capital.
Sheikh Yassine, who founded the Adl wal Ihsan (Justice and Charity) movement in 1973, was an outspoken opponent of the Moroccan monarchy and was imprisoned twice during the so-called Years of Lead under the late king Hassan II.
The movement, which is banned but tolerated, is thought to have an extensive support base in the north African kingdom, especially in poorer neighbourhoods.
Huge crowds sat or knelt in silence in the streets outside the eighteenth century mosque, situated next to the royal palace in the heart of the capital.
A large security detachment was deployed in the area.
“He founded a complete system, to provide education, to support the poor and to strengthen the relationship between the individual and God,” a member of the movement, who gave his name only as Driss, told AFP.
“The movement exists in nearly every town in Morocco. It is a socio-cultural movement that is opposed to the existing system, which is why the makhazen did not like him,” the 28-year-old civil servant argued, referring to the king’s inner circle.
