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Join on Telegram Rabat – The independence of Morocco is the outcome of a fight led by several resistance groups against the French colonizer, Haj Mohammed Aissaoui Mestassi, the last signatory alive of the manifesto of independence, told “Le Matin du Sahara et du Maghreb” newspaper which devoted its issue to the 70th anniversary of the presentation of the manifesto of independence.
A symbol of the nationalist movement, the ninety years old activist gave his testimony on the period ranging from the 30s to the independence. “The fight for independence began in the 30s with protests against the Berber Dahir in 1930 and the setting up in 1934 of the Moroccan action committee (CAM) which submitted a list of national demands, the creation of the national party by Moroccan nationalists followed afterwards,” he said, adding that these events are well accounted for in the writings of Boubker Kadiri, Abdelkrim Ghellab and Ibrahim El Kettani.
The Anfa conference in January 1943 in which took part the Sultan Mohammed V, is an important milestone in the march towards independence,he said, noting that some nationalists, who wanted to seize this opportunity to spread information about the cause of Morocco, hesitated between demanding reforms or independence, but the Sultan Mohammed V insisted on demanding independence.
The king tackled the issue during his meetings with President Roosevelt who pledged the support of the United States for Morocco, he stressed, recalling that the Sultan also discussed the same thing with Churchill and reminded him about Moroccans’ participation in the war to free several European countries.
On Thursday, January 11, 1944, the nationalists of the Istiqlal party presented the Manifesto to the Sultan Mohammed V, and handed a copy to the French legation, said Haj Mestassi. In this Manifesto, nationalists openly demanded the independence of Morocco under the auspices of His Majesty Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef.”
