[Anisa]

North Africa

BBC reporter Pascale Harter in based in Rabat and has been covering events in the Mahgreb countries of North Africa for 18 months.


Best story
After reporting from Sub-Saharan Africa, I was shocked at the extent of sexism in Morocco, where discrimination against women is literally written into the law. This year reforms to the family code pushed through by King Mohammed VI have started having an effect. It's now easier for a woman to choose for herself who she marries, to file for divorce, and most importantly she is no longer legally required to 'obey' her husband. Little by little the shift in power is taking root in the capital, although there is still a way to go in rural Morocco, where 80% of women are illiterate and unaware of their new rights.

A trip to the disputed territory of the Western Sahara, home of the Saharawis, showed how Muslim women could really enjoy better rights, in harmony with Islamic beliefs. In Laayoune I was invited to numerous weddings, with ululating women and growling camels. The magnitude of wedding celebrations in the Western Sahara is only matched by the parties Saharawi women are thrown by their communities when they decide to divorce. "A woman," say the Saharawis, "is the hat of a noble man and the shoes of a dog."


Worst story
The worst development in the Maghreb region this year has been the international community's pitiful response to the locust plague in Mauritania. Appeals back in 2003 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation for a measly $9m to fight the beginnings of a locust invasion were ignored. While donors dithered, the locusts multiplied. Now $100m is needed to fight a full-scale plague.

The locusts have already ravaged 50% of Mauritania's staple crops, and destroyed great swathes of pastureland. They may have dealt a death blow to the nomadic way of life of many Mauritanian families. The locusts have spread up to Morocco, Algeria and across the continent to Egypt. The plague may continue for years and the locusts could threaten southern Europe.


Most amusing story
The Moroccan capital isn't known for its party atmosphere, but the sheep-slaughtering festival of Eid was a riot in Rabat. Morocco's Islamist party complained of a western-style commercialisation of the sacred festival, as billboards advertised the chance to "win a sheep" if you bought a washing machine. Selecting a sheep was an outing for the whole family and fathers staggered through the streets with the new addition to the family slung over their shoulders. For days a concert of baa-ing resounded from the balconies and bathrooms across the city. On the day of Eid though, Rabat fell silent, and the acrid smoke of sheep skulls (the best bit, so they say) shrouded the city. The stench of the Eid festival may be hard to take, but the atmosphere of impending mass slaughter gives everyone a warm feeling inside.


Big story for 2005
I hope the big story in Morocco next year will not be terrorism. This year Islamic extremists from Morocco were arrested in connection with the bombings in the Spanish capital, and for the murder of Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh. While the Moroccan government pursues an ever more United States-friendly policy, analysts say Islamic extremist recruiters are feeding off the growing dissatisfaction among a poor, and increasingly radical underclass in Morocco.

The big story for the whole region in 2005 is likely to be illegal immigration. Flows of Sub-Saharan immigrants to Europe through North Africa are growing and have now been joined by would-be immigrants from Asia and Latin America. As southern Europe strengthens its coastal patrols, illegal immigrants are forced to take greater risks. They end up drowning in treacherous seas, or languishing in a North African limbo where they have few rights and are prey to extortion by corrupt police and people traffickers.