Failed bombing attempt in Meknes

The thirty year old bomber, Hicham Dokkali, who attempted to blow up a tourist bus in Meknes on Monday ended up being badly injured and failed to blow up the bus carrying westerners. Police said the bus driver had prevented the man from entering the bus before a gas canister he was carrying blew up. The bomber was seen raising his index finger in an apparent signal that he was asking God to accept him as a martyr, before the explosion tore off his left hand and he fell to the ground. According to police sources Dokkali was an engineer in the tax office of Meknes.

Another source claims that the bomber, who was heading towards the bus in a densely populated neighbourhood - Sahat Lahdim square, a favourite spot for tourists in Meknes - could not attain his goal thanks to the vigilance of the driver.

The would-be bomber lost his arm following the blast and was carried to the hospital in a serious condition. The incident left no victims or material losses. Moroccan security services have opened an investigation and are currently looking for two other individuals who were seen talking to the man prior to the incident.

Citing security sources, the official news agency MAP described the attack as "an isolated and desperate attempt". According to Reuters, the authorities suspect the bomber is a member of the radical Islamist Jihadia group.

TOURIST NUMBERS RISE

At the same time, authorities announced an increase in tourist numbers to the country.

Around 2,85 million tourists visited Morocco in the first half of 2007, that is a 9% rise compared with the same period of last year according to figures from the Department of Tourism.

The French topped the list with about 1.1 million tourists, followed by the Spanish (594,000), the British (208,000), the Belgian (129,000), the German (124.000), and the Italians (121,000).

The number of Arab tourists who visited Morocco during the period under review grew by 7% as against the same period a year before, with 116,000 tourists.

Tourist nights in classified hotels posted an 8 % increase, reaching 8,35 million nights.

The Department noted that Marrakech remains atop the list of highly visited tourist destinations with +11%, followed by Casablanca (+10%), Meknes with 9%, Fez and Rabat with +8%, and Agadir (+4%).

Morocco has developed an ambitious strategy, dubbed "Vision 2010", aimed at attracting 10 million tourists by 2010. This strategy provides for creating 160,000 beds, thus bringing the national capacity to 230,000 beds. It also aims to create some 600,000 new jobs.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news