Moroccan playwright dies after setting himself on fire

A Moroccan playwright died Sunday, a week after setting himself on fire in protest against the culture ministry, a Moroccan official told AFP.

Ahmed Jawad "died in a Rabat hospital where he was being treated" after attempting to end his life, the official said on condition of anonymity.

On 27 March, he set himself on fire in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture in Rabat, on the International Day of Theatre.

Local media explained his act by a feeling of "exclusion and marginalisation".

The Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication expressed its "deep regret" in a statement, specifying that he was "a contractual civil servant at the Mohammed V Theatre in Rabat who has been retired since October 2021, and who enjoys all the rights guaranteed to him by the law.

"The individual in question had submitted an offer to the ministry to purchase his plays, which was approved," the statement said, adding that the ministry had "acquired two of his plays in 2022 and agreed to purchase a third in 2023."