Moroccan police arrested nine people in swoops on Casablanca slums and seized explosives after a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up at an internet cafe, officials and residents said yesterday. Police on Tuesday descended on the neighbourhood where the dead man, Abdelfattah Raydi, had lived and arrested six people suspected of involvement in planned bombings, security sources said.Overnight, at least 300 mostly plainclothes policemen evacuated some 15 homes around 4 kilometres from the web cafe and arrested three people, including a woman wearing a veil, security sources and residents said. "The three were in a house where police suspected they were stocking explosives," a resident said by telephone, adding that they were newcomers to the area. A bomb disposal team entered the house and took away what appeared to be explosives, the resident said. It was not clear if the arrested people were planning bombings or were hiding the explosives for someone else.
On Sunday night, Raydi blew up a belt of explosives he was carrying, killing himself and wounding four people after a tussle with the owner of the web cafe in Sidi Moumen, a suburb which is home to Casablanca's largest slum. Security forces have moved quickly since then to round up suspects as they fear members of Raydi's network will try to shift their operations to other cities. Newspapers said Raydi was one of a gang who planned to attack landmarks in Morocco's sprawling commercial capital including Casablanca's police and military headquarters, restaurants and hotels.
Among those arrested after the explosion was Abdellatif Amrine, already jailed in 2003 for his suspected role as reserve bomber in a Casablanca suicide attack that killed 45 people, Moroccan daily Aujourd-hui Le Maroc reported yesterday. Amrine was handed a 30-year prison sentence but released in 2005 due to ill health under a royal pardon for 164 Salafist Islamists, the paper said, citing sources familiar with the matter.