Chakib Benmoussa ( ar, شكيب بن موسى) (born 1958,

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

) is a

Moroccan Moroccan may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to the country of Morocco * Moroccan people * Moroccan Arabic, spoken in Morocco * Moroccan Jews See also * Morocco leather Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Maro ...

diplomat and politician. He previously served as the

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

Morocco thwarts attacks, arrests 56 terror suspects
The Plain Dealer and has been the lead negotiator for the Moroccan side in the

Western Sahara conflict The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic/Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict originated from an insurgency by the Polisario Front against Spanish colonial forces f ...

. Since December 2012, he is serving as the Moroccan ambassador to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. On October 7,2021 he was appointed as the education and sports minister.

Education

Benmoussa was born in

. He graduated from École Polytechnique of Paris, one of the most selective engineering schools in France, in 1979 and from

École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

in 1981 and a holder of

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast ...

from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

(MIT).

Career

Between 1989 and 1995 he worked as an executive at the Ministry of Equipment and Transportation, then as the secretary general of the prime minister (1995–98) and president of

SONASID Sonasid (french: société nationale de sidérurgie) is a steel manufacturing company jointly owned by ArcelorMittal and the SNI, the holding company of king Mohammed VI. Founded as a state-owned company, SONASID was privatised in 1997 when it wa ...

(1998-2000), a state-owned steel company based in

Nador Nador ( Riffian-Berber: ⵏⴰⴷⵓⵔ) is a coastal city and provincial capital in the northeastern Rif region of Morocco with a population of about 161,726 (2014 census). Nador city is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a salt lagoon ...

. In 2000, he became a member of the executive board of

ONA Group The ONA Group (Omnium Nord-Africain, Arabic: مجموعة أونا) was established in 1934 and dissolved in 2010 and succeeded by Societe Nationale d'Investissement. ONA was an industrial, financial and services conglomerate, focused on positi ...

, where Morocco's royal family is one of the main shareholders, and CEO of

Brasseries du Maroc Beer production in Morocco was introduced by the French in the 20th century. Société des Brasseries du Maroc is part of the Castel Group and oversees the production and distribution of beer. Popular beers include ''Spéciale Flag'' (pilsner) an ...

. He joined the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

in 2002.

Interior Minister and crackdown on terrorism

The Moroccan Interior Ministry arrested 56 suspected terrorists in six cities on August 7, 2006. The suspects, believed to be members of the Jammaat Ansar El Mehdi

terrorist organization A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

, include soldiers, and wives of two pilots for

Royal Air Maroc Royal Air Maroc (; ar, الخطوط الملكية المغربية, , literally ''Royal Moroccan Lines'' or ''Royal Moroccan Airlines''; ber, ⴰⵎⵓⵏⵉ ⴰⵢⵍⴰⵍ ⴰⴳⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⴰⵎⵓⵔⴰⴽⵓⵛ, ''Amuni Aylal Age ...

, the Moroccan state airline. Explosives, laboratory materials and propaganda leaflets were seized by police. In 2003 suicide bombings killed 45 people in Casablanca. Human rights activists accuse the

Moroccan government Politics of Morocco take place in a framework of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, whereby the prime minister of Morocco is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative ...

of detaining innocent people and using torture. Commenting on the arrests on September 1, Minister Benmoussa said in a statement, "The members of this group were planning terrorist attacks targeting tourist sites, strategic government facilities and foreign holdings, and assassinations of prominent figures for political or moral reasons." Mohammed Darif, a University of Mohammedia professor who studies

Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities ...

, said the women's role was probably

financing Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...

the

terror cell A clandestine cell system is a method for organizing a group of people (such as Resistance movement, resistance fighters, sleeper agents, mobsters, or terrorists) such that such people can more effectively resist penetration by an opposing org ...

. He was, in a January 2010 cabinet reshuffle, succeeded as Interior Minister by

Taib Cherkaoui Taieb Cherkaoui (also Taib Cherkaoui - born 1949) was the Minister of Interior of Morocco between 2010 and 2012. He was appointed to the post in January 2010, succeeding Chakib Benmoussa. A crackdown on protesters occurred under his command in th ...

Other roles

In December 2019, he was appointed by the King of Morocco as the President of the Commission in charge of elaborating the New Model of Development of Morocco.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benmoussa 1958 births People from Fez, Morocco Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Living people Government ministers of Morocco Moroccan chief executives Ambassadors of Morocco Ambassadors of Morocco to France