Betioui elected as Secretary-General of Assilah Forum Foundation

RABAT - Moroccan journalist Hatem Betioui was elected Saturday Secretary-General of the Assilah Forum Foundation in Morocco’s northern city of Assilah, succeeding its founder Mohammed Benaissa, who passed away on February 28.

The election took place during an extraordinary general assembly dedicated to electing a new Secretary-General for the Foundation.

During the general assembly, the Foundation's members expressed their sincere thanks and gratitude to King Mohammed VI for the message of condolence he sent to the family of the late Benaissa, which had a profound impact on them, the Foundation's members, and Assilah's residents.

During the general assembly, preparations for the 46th Asilah International Cultural Season were discussed, which will be held this year in three sessions:

- A spring session dedicated to the visual arts, from April 5 to 20, 2025, including exhibitions and art workshops with the participation of artists from Morocco and abroad;

- A summer session dedicated to the mural workshop, which will be held from June 29 to July 6. This session also includes the season's talent workshop and the literary expression and children's writing workshop.

- A fall session dedicated to seminars, to be held from September 19 to October 10.

The general program for the 46th cultural season will be announced later.

Hatim Betioui was born in Assilah on June 18, 1966. He received his primary and secondary education there and holds a degree in political science from the Faculty of Law at Mohammed V University in Rabat in 1989.

Betioui had been a member of the Al-Muhit Cultural Association since 1979, which later became the Assilah Forum Foundation. He then became responsible for media relations at the Foundation and a major contributor to the management of the season's cultural and artistic activities.

At the beginning of his media career, Betioui worked as a trainee journalist at Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper's London headquarters for a year (1989-1990), then as a correspondent for the newspaper in Rabat (1990-1996). During the same period, he worked as a correspondent for MBC FM radio in Morocco.

In 1996, he moved to London to work at Asharq Al-Awsat's central headquarters, remaining there until 2004, when he was appointed director of the Saudi Research and Publishing Company's Rabat office and editor of Asharq Al-Awsat.

In 2009, he returned to the newspaper's London headquarters, where he worked as editor of Maghreb affairs for Asharq Al-Awsat, then as head of the political department. He also served as the official non-resident representative of Al-Arab newspaper in Morocco (2009-2014), and again as director of the Rabat office of Asharq Al-Awsat. 

In 2014, Betioui received the prestigious Officer Award medal from His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

Betioui also published a book "Half a Century Under the Microscope of Politics," which is a compilation of the memoirs of Professor Abdelhadi Boutaleb, advisor to the late King Hassan II. These memoirs were previously published in the form of interviews in the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

Betioui has conducted several political interviews with numerous heads of state, prime ministers, and foreign ministers. He currently writes a weekly column for the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar Al-Arabi and works for other journalistic outlets.