The Clinton Foundation will accept a donation in excess of $1 million from a Moroccan government-owned company and hold a policy conference in Marrakech with the king of Morocco, according to Politico.
Hillary Clinton was scheduled to appear at the May Clinton Global Initiative Middle East and Africa Meeting, but officials at the foundation now say it is unlikely she will make the trip.
The reason for the event is a large donation from a phosphate exporter owned by Morocco's constitutional monarchy, which was accused by Clinton's State Department of "arbitrary arrests and corruption in all branches of government" in 2011 and fails to treat women as equals.
The event is being funded largely by a contribution of at least $1 million from OCP, a phosphate exporter owned by Morocco’s constitutional monarchy, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the event.
When Hillary Clinton announced the Marrakech meeting in September, she praised Morocco as "a vital hub for economic and cultural exchange" in a region "in the midst of dramatic changes."
But in 2011, Clinton’s State Department had accused the Moroccan government of "arbitrary arrests and corruption in all branches of government." And while the country that same year enacted a new constitution that guarantees gender equality, women’s rights advocates say Morocco’s family law still falls short of that promise.
Clinton visited Morocco during her time at the State Department and praised King Mohammed
During her State Department tenure, Clinton visited Morocco, and later launched an ongoing U.S.-Morocco strategic dialogue (the latest installment of which is set to occur in Washington this week), praising the country in 2012 "as a leader and a model."
While she told King Mohammed that he "deserves great credit" for the work he’d undertaken, she stressed that the country needed "to take on the deeply troubling problem of child marriage" and promised aid "to help provide Moroccan youth with alternatives to criminal and extremist organizations."
In addition, she expressed a desire "to increase the amount of trade coming to the United States, and also to improve economic integration across North Africa, which could greatly benefit Morocco because of Morocco’s stability and Morocco’s very strong economic foundation."