Reporters Without Borders condemns an attack by police officers on Agence France-Presse correspondent Omar Brouksy as he was covering a demonstration by various groups and NGOs outside parliament in Rabat today against yesterday's "beiya," a traditional oath of loyalty to the king.

Brouksy told Reporters Without Borders: "It was 6:15 pm. I was covering the protest outside parliament when policemen asked me to leave. I showed them my press card but they shouted, 'Leave, leave!' And then they began to hit me everywhere, including the mouth. A colleague from Reuters shouted that I was an AFP journalist but it made no difference. They kept going. My nose is still bleeding."

The "beiya" held yesterday to mark the 13th anniversary of the king's coronation is regarded as archaic and humiliating by the groups who took part in the demonstration.

Reporters Without Borders calls on the Moroccan authorities to investigate the attack on Brouksy and punish those responsible.