Morocco Music Festival Backs Elton John

Concert organizers in Morocco are defying calls to scrap an Elton John performance in the North African country later this month.

John is scheduled to perform in the Mawazine festival, which runs from May 21 to May 29 in Rabat, despite calls from Morocco's Islamist Justice and Development Party to ax the out singer from the set list, saying his performance would pose "a risk of encouraging homosexuality in Morocco," the AFP reports.

However, Mawazine artistic director Aziz Daki said the festival invites "artists on the basis of the quality of their performance on stage and according to their artistic career" and that to exclude John would "breach certain values" on which the music event was founded.

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