MOROCCAN King Mohammed VI will grant full or partial pardons to 1,266 prisoners on the anniversary of the country’s declaration of independence, an official said on Thursday. The independence declaration is marked on Friday and is a national holiday in Morocco. Among those set to receive royal pardons, whose names have yet to be revealed, are 529 people who will have their entire prison sentences wiped out as well as another 688 who will have their jail terms reduced. The Moroccan monarch regularly hands out pardons to mark national or religious holidays. The largest mass amnesty to date occurred following his accession to the throne in 2000 when more than 46 000 inmates received total or partial reductions in sentences. – AFP