Moroccan police widened a search for suspected Islamic extremists on Tuesday, calling on citizens to help reveal the hiding places of two militants they say have links to al Qaeda, state news agency MAP reported. The appeal was the second of its kind in five days and came after a meeting of top officials last week to discuss tougher security measures amid growing fears of al Qaeda attacks. "The Moroccan authorities ask all people with information or who know where these wanted men may be hiding to immediately inform the administrative authorities or security services," MAP cited the police as saying.The wanted suspects are Hmam Bilal and Bel Hachmi Mohamed Rida who are accused of having ties with groups including the Algeria-based al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, MAP cited police sources as saying.
Violence in Tunisia and Algeria and arrests in Morocco in the past months have raised fears that militant groups across the Maghreb are beginning to coordinate their activities. Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), has stepped up a campaign of bombings and ambushes in Algeria. It claimed responsibility for seven bomb attacks in Algeria last week in which at least six people were killed.
Security sources say the Moroccan authorities have intelligence information about an al Qaeda plot to carry out an attack or attacks in the kingdom, but have no specific details.