General Directorate of Studies and Documentation

Direction Générale des Études et de la Documentation المديرية العامة للدراسات والمستندات
Seal of the DGED
Intelligence agency overview
Formed	January 12, 1973; 52 years ago (1973-01-12)
Headquarters	Rabat,Morocco
Employees	4,000(2003 estimate)[1]
Annual budget	1,08 billiondirham(2015)[2]
Intelligence agency executive	Mohammed Yassine Mansouri, General Director
Parent department	Administration for National Defense

TheGeneral Directorate of Studies and Documentation (Arabic:المديرية العامة للدراسات والمستندات,French:Direction Générale des Études et de la Documentation;DGED) is the foreignintelligence agency ofMorocco, under authority of the Administration for National Defense.^[3] It is officially tasked with maintaining national security and the safety of national institutions.^[4]

The current general director of the DGED isMohammed Yassine Mansouri, who studied withMohammed VI at theRoyal College and previously ranMaghreb Arabe Press.^[5][6][7] Mansouri was appointed to the position by Mohammed VI on February 14, 2005.^[8] The agency collaborates often with its internal counterpart, theDGST.^[9][10]

The DGED was created on January 12, 1973 under aRoyal Dahir,^[11] in the aftermath of two failed coups againstHassan II.^[12] It was modeled after the now-defunct FrenchService de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage.^[13] The directorate was run byAhmed Dlimi until his death in 1983.^[12] Dlimi previously ran theCAB-1, a political police unit during theYears of Lead that later became theDGST.^[14][15]

Following Dlimi's death, General Abdelhak El Kadiri headed the DGED until his retirement in 2001.^[16] Following El Kadiri's retirement, Ahmed Harchi was appointed as the head of the DGED in July 2001.^[17] Mohammed Yassine Mansouri named the general director of the DGED by King Mohammed VI on February 14, 2005, becoming the first civilian to hold the title.^[7][5]

The DGED caused controversy following the2003 Casablanca bombings for its help in the arrest and conviction of six high-ranking politicians in theJustice and Development Party for complicity in the bombings.^[18] A reporter forAl-Manar, a TV station affiliated withHezbollah was also convicted under the same charges.^[18]

In a 2009 interview, Mohammed Yassine Mansouri claimed that the spread ofWahhabism andShia Islam bySaudi Arabia andIran as a threat, claiming that both ideologies were aggressive.^[18] In the same interview, Mansouri also claimed thatAl-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was seen a major threat by Morocco.^[18]

In 2014, a Twitter account named@chris_coleman24, which was likely controlled by the FrenchDGSE,^[19] leaked documents and emails between Moroccan consulates and the DGED,^[20] the user claimed that their goal was to "destabilize Morocco".^[21][22]Arrêt sur Images claimed that some of the documents leaked by the user were falsified.^[23][24] Morocco'sMinistry of Foreign Affairs accused "pro-Polisario organizations" with the complicity of the Algerian government of running the Twitter account.^[24] Despite this,Algérie Presse Service claims that the leaker was a "famous American hacker".^[25]

In 2017, the FrenchIGPN arrested an officer of theFrench Border Police for allegedly giving the DGED files on up to 200 people marked under aFiche S, France's indicator for people deemed a threat to national security.^[26][27][28] In 2021, the IGPN claimed that members of the DGED had infiltrated theFrench Council of the Muslim Faith.^[29] In 2022, the DGED was caught ina scandal involving its agents infiltrating theEuropean Parliament.^[30][31]

In 2023, the DGED was involved in rescuing Romanian citizen Iulian Ghergut from al-Qaeda sympathizers in Burkina Faso.^[32][33]

• Ahmed Dlimi (1973-1983)
• Abdelhak Kadiri (1983-2001)
• Ahmed El Harchi (2001-2005)
• Yassine Mansouri (2005-present)

The DGED states its official mission as "participating in maintaining the security of the kingdom, the state and its institutions".^[1] According to a 2003 report byMaroc Hebdo, the DGED has 4,000 employees total, 60% of which are members of theRoyal Armed Forces, the remaining being civilians.^[34][1] According to the same report, 5% of DGED employees are women, and there are an estimated 250 to 300 agents abroad working for the DGED.^[34][1]

The DGED collaborates with foreign services in security and terrorism-related affairs, including exchange of information regarding specific Moroccans targeted by foreign services.^[35]

Mohamed Reda Taoujni, previous owner of the journal Assahra Al Ousbouiya, claimed that the DGED controlled his journal and had published articles to the journal and its online counterpart through pseudonyms.^[36] According toAli Lmrabet, the DGED was reported to have staff in consulates and embassies of Morocco, hence benefiting fromdiplomatic immunity.^[37] Lmrabet adds that the DGED used journalists working for theMaghreb Arabe Press as agents, and journalists were allegedly tasked with sending wires to the DGED containing information they gathered.^[38]

• Government of Morocco
• Moroccan intelligence agencies
• Law enforcement in Morocco
• 1973 establishments in Morocco

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• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• CS1 Arabic-language sources (ar)
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