"Morocco is much more advanced in many areas compared to Egypt and Tunisia and aligns itself more with Europe than other Arab countries in the region," said CNN in its website, recalling reforms initiated in Morocco under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI.   

     Quoting Human Rights Watch (HRW), CNN noted that most February 20 demonstrations were “peaceful”, adding that “police stayed away from the marches and demonstrations.”

     HRW had said, on Monday, that thousands of Moroccans marched peacefully throughout the Kingdom without the police intervention and "encountered none of the deadly force utilized by the security forces" against protesters in other Arab countries.

    Thousands of Moroccans took to the streets all over the country "without interference from police, who in some areas were barely in evidence," it said.

    "Today, the security forces allowed Moroccan citizens to march peacefully," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch noted.