Moroccan justice minister, Abdelouahed Radi, elected party secretary

Moroccan Justice Minister Abdelouahed Radi has been elected first secretary of the Socialist Union of the Popular Forces (USFP), replacing Mohamed El Yazghia, a senior minister without portfolio. Radi’s election took place Saturday at the end of the party’s eighth congress which began in Skhirat, north-western Morocco, Friday. USFP, Morocco’s largest political party, was established in 1975 following a split from the National Popular Forces’ Union (UNFP), founded by Mehdi Ben Barka. It came fifth in the last parliamentary polls in 2007 with 38 seats against the 50 seats it won in 2002.