By Tom Pfeiffer
RABAT, May 27 (Reuters Life!) - Singer Elton John defied hostile Islamists to headline Morocco's biggest music festival on Wednesday night and received a rapturous welcome from a crowd of thousands.
Politicians from the opposition Islamist PJD party said the gay British star was not welcome in the conservative north African kingdom and that granting him such a profile would tarnish Morocco's image.
Organisers said the singer's private life was irrelevant and went ahead with the show, the highlight of the week-long Mawazine World Rhythms festival that has become the cultural showpiece of Morocco's secular-leaning monarchy.
Mounted police and dozens of security staff were on duty but there was no hint of any disturbances or protests, and the performer himself made no mention of the dispute surrounding his presence in Morocco.
"God bless you all... God bless Morocco," the singer said as the concert, lasting almost three hours, wound down.
Organisers said 40,000 people attended the show though Reuters estimates suggested there were fewer.
