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Morocco locks up 5 militants
Demonstrating Moroccoâs effort to combat Islamic extremism, a court jailed five militants accused of preparing terrorist attacks and of having ties to al-Qaeda. A criminal court in the capital, Rabat, convicted the five Islamic militants on Thursday to sentences ranging from five to 15 years in prison. Theyâve been busy in Morocco. Among them was Tayeb ben Tizi, considered the leader of the group, which was accused of having "contact" with the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden and planning attacks with the goal of installing Islamic rule in the North African kingdom. Moroccan officials have led a crackdown against suspected Islamic militants since five suicide bombings in Casablanca on May 16. The attacks, which targeted a hotel and Jewish and Spanish sites, killed 45 people, including 12 of the attackers. The Justice Ministry said that as of Wednesday, 906 Islamic militants had been brought before judges since the sweep started. Like I said, busy. Morocco is desperate to prevent the kingdomâs slide toward the kind of full-blown Islamic insurgency that has ravaged its neighbor Algeria for more than a decade, claiming an estimated 120 000 lives. Looked over the fence, decided they didnât want any part of that. Posted by: Steve 2003-09-12 |
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