MOROCCO: TERRORISM 'OBSTACLE TO ENDING THE DEATH PENALTY'

suicide bombings earlier this year in the port city of Casablanca and nearby Meknes have delayed moves to abolish capital punishment in Morocco, human rights activist Khadija al-Riadi told AKI. Al-Riadi, who is president of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, praised Italy for its role in the United Nations General Assembly's non-binding vote that backed a moratorium on capital punishment. "We in Morocco were close to abolishing the death penalty last year, but unfortunately, the return to the country of terrorist attacks which threaten our security currently do not allow us to do so," she added. "For now, we have managed to stop the application of the death penalty. The last execution was carried out in Morocco in 1993." Last week, Morocco's justice minister Abdelwahed Radi said his country was on the verge of abolishing capital punishment, making it the first Muslim country to do so. "Abolishing the death penalty in no way means violating the principles of Islam."