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| Africa: North |
| Morocco locks up 5 militants |
| 2003-09-12 |
| Demonstrating Morocco’s 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. They’ve 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 kingdom’s 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 didn’t want any part of that. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 What? They're not toast? WTF? I was starting to give King (Abdullah or Mohammed - one of 'em is bound to be right) credit for being the real deal of the ME. I hope 15 yrs in a Moroccan prison is a major bitch - as depicted in Hollywood movies. It must be, right? Hollywood doesn't lie! As for Kingie, this is a major letdown. Roundups are good, and 900+ is nothing to sneeze at, but hey Bro - ya gotta do a serious number on 'em when ya got 'em. Wanna rent some space at Gitmo? (Ooooooh! Gitmo!) |
| Posted by: .com (Abu This) 2003-9-12 2:02:59 PM |