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| Africa: North |
| Morocco charges 18 al-Qaeda suspects |
| 2005-11-24 |
| A Moroccan prosecutor on Thursday charged 18 people whom police rounded up in Rabat and Casablanca this month as alleged members of a terrorist network being set up with suspected Al Qaeda links. Hussein Houdaya, one of the north African kingdomâs leading anti-terrorist attorneys, initially checked the identities of the 18 men and then told them of the various charges against them at a court in Sale near the capital, a judicial source said. Police detectives showed up at the court openly carrying sealed bags of evidence against the men, who were brought from Casablanca to Sale in two armoured police buses, an AFP correspondent witnessed. Details of the charges were not made public but a judicial source said the suspects were presented to an examining magistrate probing the case immediately after the hearing. Announcing the arrests last Sunday, police said the network was âlinked to the radical Islamic movement having connections with small groups emerging at the Iraqi border and maintaining close ties with senior members of the Al Qaeda organisation.â The detention period prior to Thursdayâs court appearance had been extended for 96 hours twice and a defence lawyer, Abdelfettah Zahrach, said the aim was to help police âcomplete their inquiries.â |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 try'em, convict 'em, execute them. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2005-11-24 13:25 |