Moroccan National Olympic Committee Secretary General Noureddine Benabdennbi said the committee firmly supports the Beijing Olympics and is opposed to any politicization of the Games, local media reported Wednesday.

Morocco had announced its opposition to any attempt to boycott the Beijing Olympics at the 16th general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Beijing earlier this month, Benabdennbi was quoted as saying by the Arab daily Annahar Al-Maghribia.

Morocco respects the Olympic spirit and the Olympic Charter and believes that the Games should not be linked to political issues, he added.

The secretary general said his country will send 50 athletes to the Beijing Olympics.

Wang Baoyi, cultural counselor at the Chinese embassy in Morocco, said the Olympics represents the ideology of peace, friendship and progress and is a grand sporting event for people around the world, the newspaper reported.

Some westerners may be trying to willfully politicize the event, but their attempts will fall through, Wang asserted.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2008)