The MAP agency has issued a communiqué from the Royal Cabinet announcing Barid's appointment

Mohamed VI nombra a Mohamed Barid nuevo número 2 de las Fuerzas Armadas

PHOTO/MAP - King Mohamed VI addresses the nation on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Green March

Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Saturday appointed Lieutenant General Mohammed Barid as the new Inspector General of the Armed Forces, the second highest position in the Moroccan army after the monarch himself, who holds the post of supreme commander and chief of the General Staff.

A communiqué from the Royal Cabinet published in the state agency MAP, informs of Barid's new appointment to replace General Belkheir El Farouk.

Earlier on Saturday, Mohammed VI decorated El Farouk with the Grand Medal of the Throne before the prayer held at the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca to mark the end of Ramadan, "in recognition of his distinguished career and the great services he rendered in the service of the throne and the nation".

In addition to being inspector general of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), Barid holds the post of commander of the Southern Zone, which covers the territory of Western Sahara disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front and 80% controlled by Rabat.

The relieved El Farouk, 73 years old and in a delicate state of health, led in November 2020 the operation to evict a group of Sahrawi independence fighters from Guerguerat, in the far south of Western Sahara, after which the Polisario Front declared the ceasefire with Morocco broken.