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al Garbuzi professes his innocence
A MOROCCAN asylum seeker living in London and said to be a leading suspect in the manhunt for the terrorists behind last week's atrocities yesterday broke cover to insist he was innocent. Mohammed al Garbuzi, 50, reputedly head of the Group of Islamic Combatants of Morocco (GICM), which was linked to the terror attacks in Madrid in 2004 and Casablanca in 2003, declared: "I am not hiding and I am not a terrorist." Al Garbuzi, a radical Muslim cleric, is said to have been living with his family in Britain since the 1970s, having been granted indefinite leave to remain here. Speaking from London, he told the Arab al Jazeera TV channel that suggestions he was behind last Thursday's atrocities were After his name appeared in several newspapers at the weekend, he told the Qatar-based network: "They have made up this story." He accused someone at the Moroccan embassy in London, whom he refused to name, of being behind the allegation that he had links to terrorist groups. Two years ago in Morocco, al Garbuzi was convicted in his absence and sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with the 2003 Casablanca bombings, in which 33 bystanders and 12 suicide bombers died. French officials consider him to be the founder and principal recruiter of the GICM. Following the Casablanca attacks, senior Moroccan diplomats called for Britain to explain why al Garbuzi was never arrested, despite warnings that he posed a threat. In the al Jazeera footage, al Garbuzi is heard speaking while his bearded face is barely visible through a celluloid shadow the television network used to shield his face. He said he did not want to be shown in order to avoid public harassment after his picture was published in Saturday's papers. The al Jazeera reporter who interviewed him confirmed it was al Garbuzi by checking his passport. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2005-07-11 |
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