Reuters - The Moroccan government seized all issues of the country’s leading French-language independent weekly because it contained a survey of how people viewed the king, officials and the magazine’s publisher said.

“The Interior Ministry ordered the seizure of the issues of Telquel and Nichane following the printing of articles that violate the law,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The ministry gave no details about the content of the articles in Telquel (“As it is”) and its Arabic-language sister publication Nichane which was also seized.

But Ahmed Benchemsi, Telquel’s managing director, said it was because the magazine contained a poll about King Mohammed.

10 years of King Mohammed VI's reign July 23, 1999, death of Hassan II. On July 25, Mohammed VI (on the right) buries his father during a public ceremony that marks, for many Moroccans, the end of an era.AFP In 2004, the king helps create the “Mudawana”, a new family code giving women and children more rights.AFP Casablanca’s Hotel Farah on May 16, 2003, after suicide bombings by Islamic extremists from the shanty towns of Sidi Moumen.AFP In 2004, Mohammed VI creates the “Equity and Reconciliation Commission” to investigate human rights violations during the country’s “Years of Lead”. The king also razes the infamous secret prison of Tazmamart.AFP September 2000, opposition member Abraham Serfaty is allowed to return to Morocco after nearly nine years in exile.AFP November 1999, Driss Basri, Hassan II’s right-hand man and symbol of Morocco’s "Years of Lead", is dismissed as interior minister.AFP In March 2002, the king marries Salma Bennani, an IT engineer and commoner subsequently titled Princess Consort Lalla Salma. Pictures of their marriage are seen all over the country, whereas Hassan II’s wife never appeared publicly.AFP Mohammed VI a few hours before giving his first speech, on July 30, 1999, a date subsequently celebrated as Throne Day.AFP

“The seized issue includes an opinion poll about the results of 10 years of the king’s rule. Among other things, the poll showed that 91 percent of Moroccans are very satisfied or satisfied with the king’s performance.

“The authorities told us it is not acceptable in principle to do an opinion poll about the king. That is the reason for seizing Telquel and Nichane.”

The reform-minded King Mohammed marked the 10th anniversary of his ascension to the throne on Thursday.

He is widely credited with turning Morocco into a more tolerant state after the 38-year rule of his late father, King Hassan, when dissidents were jailed, tortured or killed.

But the monarchy, religion, army and the issue of the contested Western Sahara region are still off-limits to an increasingly intrepid local media.

Journalists have been jailed or fined and newspapers shut down or seized in the past 10 years when reporters attempted to test the limits in those four areas.