Latest news with #ClaudeMoniquet
El Chorouk
02-08-2025
- Politics
- El Chorouk
The 2006 Scandal: Moroccan Regime's Relationship With the Zionist Entity
The well-known Belgian politician and journalist, Claude Moniquet, revealed a scandal in which Mohamed Yacine Mansouri, head of the Moroccan External Intelligence Service (DGED), visited Israel in 2006 to attend high-level meetings with the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad. Moniquet asserted that relations between the Moroccan regime and Israel were not the result of the normalisation agreement that took place before the world's eyes in December 2020, but rather date back decades. Claude Moniquet is not just a journalist. He is a politician, the former leader of the Belgian 'LiDem' party, and has worked for numerous French media, most notably the weekly 'L'Express.' He is also a former agent of the French Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), and has connections with Moroccan intelligence, which lends his confessions a remarkable degree of credibility. In a post on his X account, Claude Moniquet wrote: 'I learned from a reliable Israeli source that during the 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah (in July 2006), Mehdi Hajaouy personally organized a trip for Yacine Mansouri (the head of the Moroccan foreign intelligence service) to Israel to attend high-level meetings with the Mossad and a visit the front line on the northern border', with Lebanon. This testimony brought considerable trouble to the double agent of both French and Moroccan intelligence, evident in the campaign he was subjected to, which he blamed on the Moroccan regime's thugs. They attempted to brand him as working for Algeria, an allegation he vehemently denied. He recalled his past in a second post on X, reaffirming his unwavering positions: '… Let my few critics know that I am not 'paid by Algeria,' but rather continue to support the Kingdom of Morocco, among other things, in the Western Sahara issue…' The Belgian politician's testimony, which sparked considerable controversy in the Alawite kingdom and its supportive lobbies in Europe, came in the context of his publication of confidential information about the second-in-command of the Moroccan foreign intelligence service, Mehdi Hajaoui, who fled Morocco months ago. This information also comes amidst the media campaign against him. Claude Moniquet said, 'The Moroccan 'judiciary' allegedly accuses Mehdi Hajaoui of various 'criminal acts,' but his French lawyers, William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, were able to a 'strictly political procedure supported by judicial setup…', and considered the allegations against the man to be mere false allegations designed to discredit Hajaoui. The Moroccan intelligence agent denied all the articles covering the Mehdi Hajaoui case, which claimed that he never held any strategic position in Moroccan intelligence. He added: 'I can provide personal testimony highlighting the extent to which the claims spread (obviously on orders) by the Moroccan media are unfounded. Between 2005 and 2014… I had regular contact with Mehdi Hijaouy, son of a now-deceased general who was close to King Hassan II. He was then chief of staff of Yacine Mansouri, the head of the DGED (Moroccan General Directorate of External Documentation). 'On two occasions, Hijaouy organised triangular meetings (Mansouri, Hijaouy and me), in Mr. Mansouri's own office. At the same time, after the London attacks (July 2025), Hijaouy organised a meeting for me dedicated to jihadist groups (among others al-Qaeda) in the Maghreb', Moniquet added. He explained that 'the meeting took place at the DGED headquarters, and was attended by officials from various departments of the service. Mehdi Hijaouy chaired the discussions. He subsequently organised other meetings: with Army Corps General Benani, who then commanded the 'southern zone', with Fouad Ali Himma (currently the Moroccan king's advisor)… among others at the 'La Tour Hassan' hotel in Rabat, then Secretary of State for the Interior and very close to King Mohammed VI and with other important security officials'. Claude Moniquet also confirmed that, 'finally, at other times, I was able to personally verify with contacts in the French and Israeli intelligence communities that Mehdi Hijaouy was extremely appreciated there and was an important vector of security cooperation between Rabat and Paris on the one hand and Rabat and Tel Aviv on the other', this enabled him to arrange a visit by Mohamed Yacine Mansouri, head of the Moroccan External Intelligence Service (DGED), to the Zionist entity in 2006, to attend high-level meetings with the Zionist intelligence agency, Mossad. Moniquet point out that Mehdi Hijaouy was the first DGED officer to benefit (in September 2000) from anti-terrorist training organised by the Zionist intelligence services. He believes that 'the revelations of the Moroccan press put into perspective, allow me simply, in conclusion, to regret that questions of personal rivalries and jealousy push a large service like the DGED to engage in such a settling of scores which can only harm its image, the security of Morocco, the relations between the DGED and the allied services and the morale of its officers who can now fear being abandoned and publicly exposed from one day to the next'.
Euronews
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Middle East power balance has tilted dramatically to Israel
Iran suffered huge military losses during the Israeli strikes and has limited capacities to hit back, according to an independent security expert Claude Moniquet. Moniquet served as an intelligence officer in the French services and has written several books about the region. He told Euronews that Israel committed an act of war on Iran. "I will not call an operation that involved more than 200 planes, missiles, 300 strikes, 100 sites hit, and at least a dozen or fifteen Iranian leaders eliminated a limited operation. It is an act of war that has been expected for 25 years. For 25 years, the Israelis have been saying that they will not tolerate Iran having an atomic bomb. Iran has been warned multiple times." Moniquet said that Iran now has four options by way of response, of which the first - sending drones towards Israel - has already begun. "They have already started trying to use drones to deliver direct strikes on Israel. The second possibility is a joint operation with proxies like Yemen's Huthis," he said. The third possibility, according to Moniquet, that they will deploy "one way or another" in the long or medium term, is "the use of terrorism". "Iran is a terrorist state that has attacked, including Europe and France, multiple times over the past 40 years," he said. "And the last possibility, if there were an escalation, would be the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, which would be a disaster for Europe." He added that the chance of a full-scale war in the region is not out of the question, but added that Iran has limited capacities for that. "The extent of their responses will determine what happens next, and we can effectively fall into an all-out war. Now, quite clearly, I don't think the Iranians have the capacity to wage an all-out war against Israel, which has air supremacy in the region. We have seen that Iran's military-security system is totally disorganised." According to Moniquet, Israel systematically weakened Iranian proxies in the region with the war against Hezbollah and Hamas in the past few years, and now delivered a blow that will change the balance of power. "Iran today has undergone, whatever they say, a very, very heavy military failure, and it is not over. However, behind Hezbollah, behind Hamas, behind the Houthis in Yemen, what do we find? We find the Iranians. So what is happening, if the Israelis go far enough, is likely to change the whole geopolitical map in the Middle East." The expert added that this could also offer a chance for the Iranian population to revolt against the its leadership. Claude Moniquet said the conflict puts Europe on a high security risk footing. "They may well ask a Hezbollah cell or an Iranian cell like the one that was dismantled in London a few weeks ago to strike somewhere in Europe. This is an important possibility, and it means that Jewish communities, Israeli diplomatic and commercial interests, Israeli boats, Israeli planes, but probably also American interests, are now in a position of risk in Europe and could be hit." Moniquet said that the European Union has lost influence in the region and has no say in diplomacy over the future of the Middle East. "For Europe, but everyone sees that the European, as they say in soccer, is sitting on the sidelines. Negotiations were taking place between the Americans and the Iranians, the Europeans were excluded. Europeans have been pretty much excluded from all major diplomatic manouevres around the war in Gaza or the war in Lebanon." The main reason behind this loss of influence, Moniquet believes, is to be found in Europe's dwindling military power. The severity of the European Union's housing crisis has made it harder for citizens to find a home, as a combination of housing supply shortages and high rents continues to be a major issue. According to Eurostat, house prices went up by 48% and rents went up by 22% in 2023. Meanwhile, inflation drove overall prices up by 36%. And the burden has largely affected younger people the most. On average in 2023, EU households spent 19.7% of their disposable income on housing. In the same year, Eurostat data shows that young people make up a significant portion of the population that spend at least 40% of their income on housing. Furthermore, 26% of young people in the EU live in overcrowded housing, 9.2% more than the overall population. Speaking to Euronews, Housing Europe secretary general Sorcha Eduards said "We are compromising the capacity of youth to become independent, start their own lives, start their families. So again, in countries where we have a critical mass of limited-profit housing, we've seen that the age for becoming independent is indeed higher than countries that don't have that." "So, I think this already signals that increasing the amount of limited-profit housing and improving access criteria helps young people actually access that (housing)." The crux of solving this issue can be identified with a change in mentality. "We've relied too much on market forces, and then of course since 2008 we've had, with the great financial crisis, a huge impact on the capacity of the construction sector, so there was a big reduction in the number of companies delivering but also an increase in difficulty of households in actually paying their bills," says Eduards. "And I think when you look at that, we wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be talking about the housing crisis if rents and house prices had stayed aligned with income. But we've had a huge, let's say, differentiation now," she notes. When it comes to short-term rentals, Eduards explained that it "is another example where public policy has not kept up with societal needs. So, we are not making sure that our cities can house our students, that they can house our low and middle-income groups and that they can adequately house the elderly. We are allowing short-term lets to erode long-term lets." "We end up in a situation where we have empty apartments that are merely an investment. We are pushing students out of school, and families to the outskirts. We are pushing workers that are needed in the city centre to the outskirts, causing them a huge amount of stress." Some countries have already identified what the problem is. In the EU, some countries have already set up sustainable housing models. In Germany, 3.2 million people live in cooperatives, a not-for-profit model which is entirely democratic. In Belgium's Flanders region, poverty was reduced by 40% amongst people who have access to social housing. Denmark has launched programmes to ensure that young people can have access to scholarships, and that they can avoid slipping into a long-term "couch-surfing" situation, putting them at risk of becoming homeless. In the Netherlands, over 20–30% of residents live in limited-profit housing. The ideas are there, says Eduards, but we need to rely a lot less on market forces and go back to viewing housing as a fundamental right. "I think it's a time for a change in the paradigm. It's a time to build up a critical mass of housing that is responsible, that caters to our societal needs, and is not only about maximising short-term profit month-to-month", she argues.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New ESISC Report Exposes Systemic Failures in Wikipedia's Governance and the Growing Risks of Disinformation
BRUSSELS, May 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A groundbreaking report authored by Claude Moniquet and Genovefa Etienne at the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC) highlights significant concerns regarding Wikipedia's role in the spread of unchecked information and its increasing vulnerability to manipulation. While the platform remains a key resource for global knowledge dissemination, its operational model – rooted in anonymous, crowd-sourced contributions with minimal oversight – poses substantial risks to individuals, institutions, and public discourse. The report, titled "Wikipedia: Immense but Uncontrollable Power?", meticulously documents numerous cases where factual inaccuracies, ideological bias, and coordinated defamation campaigns have persisted for extended periods without adequate intervention from the Wikimedia Foundation. Notable instances include manipulations within the Croatian-language Wikipedia, partisan content related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and defamatory entries targeting public figures, journalists, and private citizens. One prominent example cited in the report involves Le Point, a leading French magazine, which initiated a petition after being targeted by a smear campaign on Wikipedia. Another case concerns Tamaz Somkhishvili, a British-Georgian businessman whose Wikipedia page contains a series of false and defamatory claims. Despite multiple efforts to present verified evidence to counter these allegations, the harmful content remains accessible – a clear indicator of Wikipedia's ineffective redress mechanisms for wrongly targeted individuals. The authors argue that Wikipedia's structure increasingly mirrors that of a social media platform rather than a neutral and reliable information source. The report calls on the Wikimedia Foundation to address these systemic flaws, emphasizing the need to align Wikipedia's operations with the European Union's Digital Services Act, which mandates more stringent measures against disinformation. As the report's authors state:"Wikipedia has become a dominant actor in the global knowledge ecosystem, but it lacks the editorial responsibility and accountability required by this role. The absence of oversight enables harm that can be long-lasting and difficult to repair." The report concludes with a series of practical recommendations, including: Appointing editorial representatives for each language version of Wikipedia. Introducing clearer correction procedures to address inaccuracies and defamatory content. Developing a more transparent governance model that balances openness with accountability. The full report is available online in both English and French: English version: Wikipedia: Immense but Uncontrollable Power? French version: Wikipedia: Un pouvoir immense mais incontrôlable ? For more information and to access the full report, please visit View source version on Contacts Email: info@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Wire
New ESISC Report Exposes Systemic Failures in Wikipedia's Governance and the Growing Risks of Disinformation
BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A groundbreaking report authored by Claude Moniquet and Genovefa Etienne at the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC) highlights significant concerns regarding Wikipedia's role in the spread of unchecked information and its increasing vulnerability to manipulation. While the platform remains a key resource for global knowledge dissemination, its operational model – rooted in anonymous, crowd-sourced contributions with minimal oversight – poses substantial risks to individuals, institutions, and public discourse. The report, titled 'Wikipedia: Immense but Uncontrollable Power?', meticulously documents numerous cases where factual inaccuracies, ideological bias, and coordinated defamation campaigns have persisted for extended periods without adequate intervention from the Wikimedia Foundation. Notable instances include manipulations within the Croatian-language Wikipedia, partisan content related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and defamatory entries targeting public figures, journalists, and private citizens. One prominent example cited in the report involves Le Point, a leading French magazine, which initiated a petition after being targeted by a smear campaign on Wikipedia. Another case concerns Tamaz Somkhishvili, a British-Georgian businessman whose Wikipedia page contains a series of false and defamatory claims. Despite multiple efforts to present verified evidence to counter these allegations, the harmful content remains accessible – a clear indicator of Wikipedia's ineffective redress mechanisms for wrongly targeted individuals. The authors argue that Wikipedia's structure increasingly mirrors that of a social media platform rather than a neutral and reliable information source. The report calls on the Wikimedia Foundation to address these systemic flaws, emphasizing the need to align Wikipedia's operations with the European Union's Digital Services Act, which mandates more stringent measures against disinformation. As the report's authors state: 'Wikipedia has become a dominant actor in the global knowledge ecosystem, but it lacks the editorial responsibility and accountability required by this role. The absence of oversight enables harm that can be long-lasting and difficult to repair.' The report concludes with a series of practical recommendations, including: Appointing editorial representatives for each language version of Wikipedia. Introducing clearer correction procedures to address inaccuracies and defamatory content. Developing a more transparent governance model that balances openness with accountability. The full report is available online in both English and French:
