Morocco Condemns Knife Attack in French City of Nice, urges moderation
Morocco has strongly condemned the knife attack carried out on Thursday at a church in French city of Nice which left three people dead. The attacker, A male suspect, of Tunisian origins, was shot and arrested by the Police.
In a statement released by the foreign ministry, Morocco also voiced solidarity with the victims and their families, stressing the need to overcome “the deleterious context and the tense climate around religion”. “Morocco calls for ending the deleterious and tense atmosphere hovering around the issue of religion and urges the different parties to show moderation, wisdom and respect for otherness,” the foreign ministry said.
The world leaders and French Council of the Muslim Faith have all condemned the three killings which happened inside Notre-Dame Basilica of Nice.
Two other attacks took place on Thursday, one in France and one in Saudi Arabia. A man was shot dead in Montfavet near the southern French city of Avignon after threatening police with a handgun.
A guard was attacked outside the French consulate in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. A suspect was arrested and the guard taken to hospital.
President Emmanuel Macron has reacted with a defiant message, saying that his country will not give up its “values of freedom” and “will not yield to terror”.
The attacks come after a French philosophy teacher was beheaded by an islamist radical of Chechen origins on October 16 triggering a wave of condemnation as well as a series of provocations by a range of institutional and media actors which republished the offensive cartoons of the prophet.
Morocco’s foreign ministry, higher religious council and political parties condemned the provocations while urging a return to wisdom and the values of tolerance inherent both to Islam and democracies.
The killing of three French citizens at a church in Nice is seen as a tragic event that would further enflame the debate over religion in France.
