2 French journalists expelled from Morocco as tensions revive between Rabat and Paris

PARIS — Two French journalists have been expelled from Morocco this week in a move denounced by media outlets and press freedom advocates. The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders both denounced the expulsions on X, with the latter describing them as a “brutal and inadmissible attack on press freedom.” Moroccan government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas said on Thursday the expulsions were a matter of procedure, not politics. In a separate development Wednesday, Morocco’s National Press Board published a formal complaint to France’s Council for Journalistic Ethics and Mediation against two media outlets, the satiric weekly Charlie Hebdo and the daily Libération, saying their reporting had violated ethical norms and spread fake news while attacking Morocco and its institutions for their earthquake response. French President Emmanuel Macron in a video on social media later appealed for an end to controversies that “divide and complicate” things at “such a tragic moment.” The kingdom’s Interior Ministry had cautioned that an overflow of poorly coordinated aid “would be counterproductive” and said it planned to accept assistance later.