C L O S E R

New case of terrorism in Morocco

Posted on March 15th, 2007 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Morocco.

A man with explosives hidden on his body blew himself up in an Internet cafe after the owners prevented him from looking at terror Web sites, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

The man was killed and four people were injured in the Sunday night blast in a Casablanca slum, said ministry spokesman Abderrahman Achour. One of the wounded was the dead man’s companion, who was hospitalized with burns and a throat injury.Both men were carrying explosives. But officials believe the cybercafe may not have been their target and that the explosion was an accident. The dead man was identified as Abdelftah Raidi, who was convicted of suspected terror links and sentenced to five years in prison before being pardoned in 2005, Achour told The Associated Press. Raidi, a Casablanca native in his early 20s, was unemployed, he said. Raidi’s injured companion was identified as Yusuf Khoudri, from the same Casablanca neighborhood, Achour said.

The news agency reported that two men entered the cafe at 10 p.m. Sunday seeking access to terrorist sites, but the owner’s son refused. A scuffle broke out, and the owner called for help before Raidi’s explosives went off, Kacemi was quoted as saying by MAP. Khoudri then fled, dropping an explosives belt on his way out, the official said. He was arrested about an hour later.

Khoudri was taken to Mohamed V Hospital in Casablanca, where he underwent an operation on his throat, the ministry spokesman said. Police questioning was limited because of his injury.

Moroccan officials are investigating if this was an act of (attempted) suicide terrorism but other officials seem already sure it is an act of terrorism. Morocco has been on a high alert since the series of bomb attacks in Algeria recently and the formation of the Algerian Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). This change might be an attempt as to gather more recruts for Algeria but can also seen as an attempt of the GSPC to present itself as the only true representer of Al Qaeda and widening its range of activities. An imporant part of Morocco’s war against terror is also aimed at chasing down perpetrators of the Madrid attacks; one of whom is recently arrested.

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