Morocco Protests/Day of Protest 20th February

I'm starting a thread today on Morocco because there are internet rumblings in that direction that I picked up off the news this morning. As we know that is how the other countrys that are protesting started out.

If any of you lovely people come across any news on Morocco please post.

7.54pm GMT - Morocco:

The Guardian's Giles Tremlett, recently back from Morocco, reports:

Morocco's government appears to be trying to calm fears over price hikes on basic goods as Facebook-arranged youth demonstrations called for Sunday, 20 February, draw closer. Today it has doubled the money it sets aside for state subsidies to counter rising global commodity prices.

The move comes as Twitter and YouTube are seeing increasing traffic about the marches, which are to be held across a country whose leadership claims it will be an exception to the wave of protest and revolution sweeping through the region.

The government will add 15bn dirhams ($1.8bn) to the 17bn dirhams allocated by the 2011 budget for the government's subsidy fund called Caisse de Compensation, Morocco's official MAP news agency said.

Reuters makes its calculations of the economic impact:

This means that at 32bn dirhams the Caisse de Compensation alone would cost 4% of the country's GDP in 2011, if the 5% growth target is met.... Morocco heavily subsidises staples, such as cooking gas, sugar and flour. Last month, the government promised to keep staples affordable at any price even if a surge in global prices of food and oil have a severe impact on its public finances this year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/15/middle-east-unrest#block-64

Thousands of Moroccans have rallied in the capital, Rabat, to demand that King Mohammed give up some of his powers.

Reports from Rabat said the protesters were heading towards parliament and that police had not tried to halt them.

A separate protest was under way in Casablanca and one was planned for Marrakesh.

Protests have spread across the region since popular movements in Tunisia and Egypt forced out leaders.

In Rabat, the protesters have been chanting: "The people want the regime to fall," and "the people reject a constitution made for slaves."

The rally was organised by groups including one calling itself the February 20 Movement for Change. At least 22,000 people have expressed their backing for its Facebook site.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12518116

5 people reported killed in Morocco protests

Five people have died in Morocco as a result of Sunday's unrest in the northern town of al-Houceima, AFP reported

http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/actualite/id/56784/titre/5-people-reported-killed-in-Morocco-protests