Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah in Morocco issued a statement yesterday, October 25, 2005, declaring that the time has come to announce the âjihad on the government of disbelieving and oppression,â for the heads of government have allegedly âsold the country to the infidels after they cleared the area from the real Muslims who care about the religion.â The group claims that even before the âhappeningsâ on May 16, referring to the bombings in Casablanca on May 16, 2003, the Moroccan government had arrested Muslims âwho like jihadâ and knowledgeable scholars on the subject. The bombings then exacerbated the alleged government policy, as they are charged with arresting all Sunni Muslim people.
The group asks for the support of Muslims and calls upon all Moroccan mujahideen to concentrate on jihad in Morocco. Further, they state that though they support al-Qaeda, they prefer to go âin our way of jihadâ. Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah, believed to be founded in early 1990s Mohamed Fizazi, a leader of the Salafist movement in Morocco, and alleged to be led by Mohamed Abdelouahab Rafiki, AKA Abu Hafs, is a banned terrorist group in Morocco believed to be responsible for a number of criminal acts throughout the country. |