Elton John to perform despite Morocco outcry

Elton John is expected to be the highlight of Morocco's biggest music festival this evening — despite calls by the country's main Islamist party to shelve the British singer because of his homosexuality.

The public spat between organizers for the Mawazine Festival and the Justice and Development Party, or PJD, the country's largest authorized Islamist group, illustrates the growing rift between Morocco's Western-leaning authorities and the more conservative Muslim movements that are on the rise in the North African kingdom.

"This singer is famous for his homosexual behavior and for advocating it," said Mustapha Ramid, a leader and spokesman for the PJD, the biggest opposition party with 40 lawmakers in parliament.

"We're a rather open party, but promoting homosexuality is completely unacceptable," Ramid told The Associated Press in a phone interview, saying homosexuality is against Muslim values. Ramid feared the singer would "encourage the phenomenon" and be a bad influence for Morocco's youth.

Like nearly all Arab and Muslim countries, Morocco is officially hostile to homosexuality. Homosexual practices are a crime punishable by fines and prison sentences of six months to three years. But in practice, such penalties are almost never applied, and Morocco has a long history of leniency toward homosexuality or other practices forbidden by Islam, like drinking alcohol.

Despite the rise of Islamism in recent years, this country is considered among the most tolerant in the Arab world, and several prominent gay intellectuals or artists have lived here, including the late French fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent and the American writer Paul Bowles.

Moroccan officials dismissed the calls to ban Elton John from performing.

"We deal with artists and intellectuals for what they do, without taking into account their private life," Mawazine Festival organizer El Hassan Neffali told reporters. "Somebody's private life is one thing, and their art or creative activities are another."

Elton John is expected to draw tens of thousands of viewers tonight during his free concert, to be held in an upscale neighborhood of Rabat, the capital. Seven other stages are set throughout the town. Other singers performing during this year's May 21-29 festival include Sting, Mika and Carlos Santana, along with a host of Arab music stars.