Cautious calm follows clashes in Youssoufia

There is an atmosphere of cautious calm in the city of Yousoufia in Morocco after hundreds of protesters resorted to the escalation demonstrations which were held against the government's phosphate compound that owns a monopoly for the manufacture, extraction, and transfer of phosphate in Morocco. A security official, who asked not to be named, said that police forces in the town of Yousoufia, which lies about 310km south of the capital Rabat, were forced to step in by force in order to stop the protests which were preventing the movement of trains, and trucks carrying phosphate. The official added:"The protestors resorted to preventing the trains from moving, and forced passengers to disembark from the carriages. This meant that the protest surpassed its goal, which was to disrupt public order. The police intervention was aimed at restoring normality." The protestors, who were students, and the sons of retired workers, are demanding to be recruited directly into jobs, without being subject to the requirements of the employment system. The young man said that the movement had arisen as a result of what the protestors are denouncing and calling "preferential acts", which accompany the recruitment files concerning the employment of the sons of retired phosphate workers, and which was provided for by the domestic law of the Public Institution.