RABAT - Morocco on Thursday blocked distribution of the Thursday and Friday editions of the French newspaper Le Monde over cartoons deemed unrespectful to the royal family, a senior Moroccan official said.
The Thursday edition carries on its front page a sketch by Le Monde's star cartoonist Plantu of a hand reaching out of a Moroccan flag to create a child-like drawing of a funny face wearing a crown.
"Trial in Morocco against the caricaturist Khalid Gueddar who dares to draw the Moroccan royal family," the caption on the cartoon says.
The Friday edition, on an inside page, runs the Gueddar cartoon in question, alluding to the September 25 wedding of Prince Moulay Ismail, a cousin of King Mohammed VI.
"We will never accept, on grounds of freedom of expression, a systematic attack on national symbols," the senior official said on condition of anonymity.
Gueddar went on trial 10 days ago on charges of lacking respect for a member of the royal family, alongside Taoufik Bouachrine, director of the Akhbar Al Youm newspaper in which Gueddar's cartoon first appeared.
The trial resumes Friday in Casablanca, while the offices of Akhbar Al Youm remain closed to its journalists on orders from the interior ministry.
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