Moroccan authorities said on Friday they had charged another 19 members and sympathizers of an extremist Islamic movement in connection with suicide bombings in Casablanca last month in which 43 people died. Some of the men, all Moroccans, had planned similar attacks on the tourist destinations of Marrakesh, Agadir and Essaouira, the official MAP news agency said. State prosecutor Abdellah Alaoui Belghiti said most of the men, aged between 17 and 40, belonged to an ultra-conservative Islamist movement known as the Salafi Jihad.
Some had declared their support for the May 16 attacks on Casablanca and their readiness to carry out similar bombings in the tourist sites, he said. The authorities had previously said the 12 suicide bombers who killed 31 civilians were linked to the small Assirat al-Moustaquim (the Righteous Path) grouping, regarded as just one group within the broader Salafi Jihad tendency. Salafi Jihad is regarded by analysts as a loose movement composed of smaller, often locally based groups. A more radical splinter group from the Saudi-influenced Salafist movement, its literalist interpretation of Islamic texts emphasizes martyrdom.
According to the prosecutor's statement, three of the 19 arrested had sworn allegiance to Abdelhaq Bentassir, also known as Moul Sebbat, whom authorities regard as one of the main organizers of the bombings. He died in police custody last week.
| "Yar! I be dead! 'At's where me liver used t' be!"" |
The statement said one of those charged, a 20-year-old street trader, had given lodging to "leading dangerous individuals from the Salafist Jihad" in his home at Berrechid, 40 km (25 miles) south of Casablanca, and had intended to smuggle them across Morocco's eastern border into Algeria. On Tuesday, the authorities, who allege the suicide bombers had links with international terrorism, said they had arrested a French national in connection with the attacks.
The Moroccans have been busy. |