Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Release Provocative Video

The Spanish government recently announced that their police had arrested two men for their alleged membership in the terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). One of the two suspects was Moroccan arrested in Murcia in the southeast of the country. He had contacts with leaders of AQIM in Mali and was responsible for recruiting militants in Spain. The second, an Algerian, was arrested in the region of Zaragoza. Their arrests came as the result of a collaboration between the Spanish police, Moroccan and French. Now AQIM have retaliated with the release of a video

According to reports in the local press and on the Magharebia website, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) launched a 41-minute provocative video about Morocco. Styled as a "documentary", the internet video mocks the domestic and foreign policy of the country and its efforts to fight terrorism. It also shows an image of the Moroccan monarch engulfed in flames.

AQIM emir Abdelmalek Droukdel launched a tirade against Morocco

The video includes footage of al-Qaeda militants training in the forests and mountains of Algeria under the personal supervision of Abdelmalek Droukdel (aka Abou Moussaab Abdelouadoud).

The tape ends with a call by Droukdel for young people to join the ranks of jihadists.

According to Mohamed Darif, a Moroccan researcher specialising in Islamic groups, the new video reveals the real "dilemma faced by the organisation when targeting Morocco". "AQIM has achieved some success in attracting Moroccans and sending them to hotbeds of tension and battlefronts, particularly Syria and Iraq, but they did not succeed in general at targeting Morocco and compromising its institutions," he told Magharebia.

"This failure has exacerbated the group's anger and rage," he added.

What provokes al-Qaeda is the exception posed by Morocco, Darif explained.

The world has seen al-Qaeda operations "expand into Libya and along the Algerian-Tunisian borders, as well as in Sinai, Egypt", he said. "Morocco is today the only country that still eludes al-Qaeda and this provokes its anger."

"Consequently, issuing this tape is an expression of frustration in the face of the successes achieved by Moroccan security authorities in dismantling terrorist cells and preventing them from carrying out sabotage operations," he said.

Indeed, the new tape comes not long after yet another Morocco AQIM cell was dismantled.

"There is a strong desire in AQIM to carry out a quality operation in Morocco, in order to shake its self-confidence and steadfastness, and put an end to its exclusive condition in the region", political analyst Driss Kassouri confirmed.

Ksouri noted that the leader of the dismantled cell was in direct contact with the senior leadership of the organisation in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, and was planning a retaliatory strike at Guelmim airport, among other targets.

Mohamed Benhammou, president of the African Federation of Strategic Studies, shared that view.

"Al-Qaeda seeks an operation in Morocco because of its symbolism and the fact that such an operation, if completed, would be considered a resounding victory, especially in the current period," Benhammou said.

This is a crucial time in terms of restructuring these groups, he said, after the blows they received during the military intervention in Mali. "They witnessed disintegration and dispersion, as well as a flight of fighters," he added.

The airing of the tape coincided with the publication by al-Qaeda central of an audio recording by Ayman al-Zawahiri, which also included incitement against Morocco.

Amazigh human rights activist Boubaker Ounghir downplayed the impact of these threats but said they required due diligence and caution, "especially since al-Qaeda in the region is now in possession of a variety of weapons after the collapse of the Kadhafi regime in Libya and the chaos that followed".

"In addition, there is also a factor of competition and a race between the various terrorist groups, especially AQIM and Mokhtar Belmokhtar new group, Mourabitounes in order to destabilise Morocco and end its exclusive condition," Ounghir said.

Cherkaoui Roudani, a member of parliament and an expert on strategic issues said, "Al-Qaeda seeks to transform the North African region into a new Afghanistan, the so-called green fascist state which is totally incompatible with what Morocco represents in terms of its successful building of democracy. This model has become an obstacle to the ambitions of al-Qaeda."

He added, "They will make every effort to wage war on the borders with Morocco, as they did with Tunisia in Jebel Chaambi."

"They will do their utmost to conduct terrorist operations inside Morocco," he warned. "We have to be vigilant and to be on the lookout in order to thwart all their attempts and protect our societal democratic project."

The Origins of AQIM

The Washington based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) traces the origins of AQIM back to the Soviet-Afghan war:

Most of AQIM’s major leaders are believed to have trained in Afghanistan during the 1979-1989 war against the Soviets as part of a group of North African volunteers known as “Afghan Arabs” that returned to the region and radicalized Islamist movements in the years that followed. The group is divided into “katibas” or brigades, which are clustered into different and often independent cells.

The group’s top leader, or emir, since 2004 has been  Abdelmalek Droukdel, also known as Abou Mossab Abdelwadoud, a trained engineer and explosives expert who has fought in Afghanistan and has roots with the GIA in Algeria. It is under Droukdel’s leadership that AQIM declared France as its main target. One of the “most violent and radical” AQIM leaders is Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, according to counterterrorism experts. 

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Chastity Day - A Good Idea, Or Out Of Touch?

The call by a prominent Moroccan preacher to mark a national Chastity Day has stirred controversy in Morocco with some advocating the promotion of chastity, others regarding the initiative as an insult to Moroccans and others saying that the call is a dangerous warning of how out of touch with young people some of the older generation are. Ibn Warraq reports from Casablanca

If we ever needed proof that the victory of the Justice and Development Party in the elections would prompt radical minorities to believe they could further a more conservative agenda for the country, then Sheikh al-Idrisi Abu Zeid has provided it. The Quran reciter is a leading member of the Islamic organization al-Tawhid wa al-Islah (Monotheism and Reformation) and he did not wait long after the elections to call for an annual promotion of chastity and suggested calling it National Chastity Day. This day, he said, will aim at fighting all “unchaste” phenomena that have lately invaded the conservative Moroccan society.

Young Moroccans enjoy a modern lifestyle

Given the power of television, the internet, mass media and the social networks, Idrisi probably has as much chance of winning this fight as he does of closing down the new Casablanca Mall.

What Sheikh al-Idrisi Abu Zeid does not seem to realise is that Morocco has far greater problems than that of "chastity". He would have found a more sympathetic audience among young people if he had called for action on poverty, unemployment and corruption. Saïda, a twenty-four year old from Hay Hassani told me that the call is out of touch with the lifestyle of young Moroccans. "Chastity,"Saïda says,"has always been a vexed issue because the expectation of chastity was put on women, while young men ignore it completely".

 For sociology researcher Mohamed Boulouse, promoting chastity is a must, but one day a year, he told  Al Arabiya newspaper, will not be enough. “We need campaigns that would last for weeks and months in order for chastity to become part of our society again and to counter all phenomena that are stranger to all society,” he told Al Arabiya.  Boulouse cited examples of “indecent” films, TV serials, festivals, and different artistic expressions that aim at “sexual arousal.” Such campaigns, Boulouse added, should also include food, clothes, actions, and words that should all be in line with Islamic principles. “There should be a focus on curbing sexual desire and abstaining from all lustful actions.” This campaign, he explained, cannot be launched by one person and all Moroccans who demand the return of decency to their society should be part of such initiative. “Several initiatives can be launched to reintroduce ethics and religious teachings to different aspects of life and to invite people to take part in activities that promote chastity.”

Clubbing is now part of many young Moroccans' lifestyle

However, more reasoned voices disagree. Islamic studies researcher Saeid Lakhal argued that the Tawhid and Islah Movement is starting to interfere in the cultural and artistic scene in Morocco following the electoral victory of the Justice and Development Party. “The movement and the party have always objected to festivals and cultural activities to no avail. Now they think they can do what they haven’t been able to do for years,” he told Al Arabiya.

 For Lakhal, statements by Idrisi and other movement members as well as advocates of their initiatives aim to test the waters and see how Moroccans and civil society will react. “There are several democratic powers that have fought for long to create a multicultural Morocco that accepts all intellectual, artistic, cultural, and ethnic differences and those who launch such initiatives are trying to see how they would respond.”

Many young people agree with Lakhal, who argues that the Chastity Day initiative is an insult to Moroccans since it assumes they are not chaste in the first place. “The initiative means that Moroccans have lost chastity and need to restore it. As far as I know, national days are dedicated to urgent issues concerning specific sectors or echelons of society that are facing problems that need to be addressed.” Lakhal said that instead of dedicating a day to chastity, national days should better be dedicated to poverty, homeless children, marginalization, or rural isolation. “There are several social ailments that need to be addressed and society is in bad need of initiatives that achieve extremely important demands like equality and social justice,” he concluded.

Marrakech lifestyle is modern and cosmopolitan

For the moment, young people will simply ignore Idrisi and his fellow conservatives as they feel confident the new government will tackle the real issues. However, should Idrisi push further against movies, music and festivals, he may find he has taken on modern Moroccans in a fight he can not win.

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Fourth terrorist blows himself up

The latest news fom the Moroccan security services is that a fourth member of the alleged terrorist group that the Police was chasing early Tuesday in al Fida neighborhood of Casablanca for alleged involvement in the March 11 bombing, blew himself up late last night, injuring five people.

This brings to four the number of alleged terrorists killed in al Fida neighborhood. A first suspect blew himself up early Tuesday when he was about to be arrested while the second died of injuries after being shot by Police during the manhunt.

A third member blew himself up in the afternoon, killing a policeman and injuring another, according to the same sources.

The two alleged terrorists killed, early morning, during the police chase were later identified as Mohamed Rachidi (aka "Salah" and "Mustapha") and Mohamed Mentala (aka "Warda").

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Another bomber dies in Casablanca

The Moroccan security services have announced that two terrorists sought by police as part of the probe into the March 11 bombing in Casablanca were killed early today in a police chase in the city. One died of injuries after being shot by the police while the other blew himself up while he was about to be arrested, the police said. Both suspects were carrying explosives.

The alleged terrorist who died of injuries was later identified as Mohamed Mentala, alias Warda, while the other is still being identified.

The two suspects were among three alleged terrorists sought by police in the aftermath of the March 11 bombing that claimed one life (the suicide bomber) and injured four others, including an accomplice.

The cyber cafe

The bombing occurred in an Internet café after the owner noticed that both suspects who were attempting to log on to a website advocating terrorism were behaving violently. When the owner threatened to call the police, one of the suspects blew himself up.

Over 30 suspects have so far been arrested part of the probe into the March 11 bombing, including Youssef Khoudri, accomplice of the suicide bomber, Abdelfattah Raydi. They all appeared before the investigation magistrate on charges of terrorism-related activities.

Casablanca was the scene on May 16, 2003 of the deadliest terrorists attacks in Morocco as they claimed 45 lives including the 12 suicide bombers.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Sunday's Suicide blast in Casablanca

On Sunday, a suicide bomber on Sunday detonated explosives in an internet cafe, killing himself and injuring four people in Casablanca. Sunday was the third anniversary of train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people.

According to the latest reports, two men entered the cafe at 10 p.m. to consult extremist websites. A quarrel broke out between them and the son of the manager, and a bomb hidden under the clothes of one of them exploded, killing the bomber.

The manager's son and two clients were injured. The bomber's companion fled with injuries, but was arrested soon after and taken to hospital.

The bombing occurred in Sidi Moumen neighborhood, home to the suicide bombers who killed 45 people in Casablanca in 2003, including the 12 suicide bombers.

Moroccan security services, who had been on a high alert amid reports of possible terror threats, have been cracking down on Islamic fundamentalist groups ever since this terror attack. Over 3,000 people have reportedly been arrested and hundreds are still detained after being convicted of terrorism charges.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Morocco's clamp down on Islamists continues.

"No one will now be able to use places of worship for other ends and there will be no more clandestine mosques."

On Tuesday night a new law governing the building of mosques was approved by the Moroccan parliament but has drawn protests from the Islamist opposition parties who claim it will hinder the construction of mosques in impoverished rural areas.

The legislation, which aims at tightening the supervision over Islamist elements, sets out procedures for both the collection of funds and actual construction. Those wishing to build a new mosque will now need to get special permission from the authorities. They will need to first form a legal association and identify those collecting and granting funding for the mosque's construction. Any extension of a mosque will also require permission

The legislation was drafted by Islamic affairs minister Ahmed Toufiq (pictured left), who welcomed the approval of the bill by parliament on Monday night, saying: "No one will now be able to use places of worship for other ends and there will be no more clandestine mosques."

The minister responded to Islamist opposition to the law by saying the law would thwart any attempt to take advantage of mosques for "non-peaceful purposes." He also denied that his ministry's reform was the result of external pressures.

In May 2006 the Tunisian Ministry For Internal Affairs made a similar move, when it announced its plan to provide a magnetic card to each worshiper. The project aimed at "improving the system of worshiping" as part of the national reforms in the country, explained Internal Affairs Minister Al-Hadi Muhanni.

According to the plan, each worshiper was to be handed a magnetic card, with his photo, address and name of the mosque he wants to pray in.

Morocco has been approving legislation to crack down on Islamic fundamentalists ever since the May 2003 Casablanca attacks in which 12 suicide bombers struck five targets representing Spanish and Jewish interests, killing 33 bystanders.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Mysterious release of al-Qaida detainee

The media has been making much of the mystery surrounding the release by U.S. authorities in August 2004 of Abdallah Tabarak a Moroccan, suspected of having once been the bodyguard of Osama bin Laden. Yet it is by no means a new story.

Back in 2003 the news media was making much of his capture: Here is what was being said back then...

With American forces closing in on him during the battle of Tora Bora in late 2001, Osama bin Laden employed a simple trick against sophisticated United State spy technology to vanish into the mountains that led to Pakistan and sanctuary. A Moroccan who was one of bin Laden's long-time bodyguards took possession of the al-Qaeda leader's satellite phone on the assumption that US intelligence agencies were monitoring it to get a fix on their position, said senior Moroccan officials, who have interviewed the bodyguard, Abdallah Tabarak.

Tabarak moved away from bin Laden and his entourage as they fled, using the phone to divert the Americans and allow bin Laden to escape. Tabarak was later captured at Tora Bora in possession of the phone. "He agreed to be captured or die," a Moroccan official said. "That's the level of his fanaticism for bin Laden. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough. There is a saying: 'Where there is a frog, the serpent is not far away'."

More than a year later, Tabarak, 43, has become the "emir", or camp leader, of the more than 600 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban members being held at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to officials who have visited the military compound twice to interview Moroccan citizens.

Some of the prisoners, by symbolically holding day-long fasts on the orders of Tabarak, have maintained some semblance of a command structure in defiance of US attempts to isolate and break them, Moroccan officials said. Tabarak's authority there "comes from his proximity to bin Laden, because of the confidence Osama bin Laden had in him", said a Moroccan intelligence officer. "He has charisma, and all the combatants at Guantanamo are deferential to him."

Tabarak, also known as Abu Omar, is respected even more because he helped bin Laden escape, the official said. The ploy involving the satellite phone is widely known and celebrated among the prisoners at Camp Delta.

But then in August 2004, he was suddenly released and now Tabarak lives near Casablanca, and, although free, is certainly under constant observation.

According to a report in the Washington Post, his case comes to light as the Pentagon gets ready for the first of its military tribunals. It points to the mysteries of U.S. priorities in deciding who to keep and who to let go - neither the Pentagon nor officials in Morocco seem willing to publicly offer any explanation why he was released.

Tabarak's attorney says his importance as an al-Qaida figure has been exaggerated.

And as for the man himself, he is very shy of the media but did speak out in February last year. Tabarak said that he still suffers from the consequences of the torture he underwent at Guantanano.

“I am now concerned about my health. I can’t see very well, because I spent more than eight months in a tiny, dark, and single cell. I also have a constant backache due to the series of beating by American soldiers. I can not sleep now; I still have nightmares,” he said.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

The Expanding Jihadi Nexus

The Jamestown Foundation often has very fine analysis and this piece by Stephen Ulf is no exception.

Arrests in Morocco Highlight the Expanding Jihadi Nexus -By Stephen Ulph

A wave of arrests that took place in early November in Morocco is illuminating for two reasons: the expansion of al-Zarqawi's influence outside Iraq, and the interconnection between jihadist activities on both shores of the Mediterranean. The series of arrests, beginning on November 11 in the cities of Rabat and Casablanca, has netted 17 Islamists suspected of links to al-Qaeda. Official sources claim that they have "dismantled a terrorist structure as it was being formed."

According to the Moroccan Arabic daily al-Alam, the terrorist network uncovered by the 17 arrests, Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad fil-Maghrib (‘the Monotheism and Jihad group in Morocco'), has connections with small groups operating near the Iraqi border that maintain close ties with senior members of the al-Qaeda. A security source quoted by the paper indicated the existence of a secret organization outside Morocco headed by an Iraqi and made up of 20 members, which entertained a plan to attack a Dutch intelligence HQ. Their plans were subsequently altered by the addition of a new Mor

occan member to the group who planned a larger operation in his home country: the targeting of a casino in Tangiers, the U.S. consulate in Casablanca and a number of Jewish synagogues. Others arrestees spoke of the production of poisons and explosives for subsequent use in Morocco. An interesting detail from the arrests was the indication of the al-Qaeda "radicalization course" undertaken by the new members, which included viewing jihadi films such as Jahim al-Rus, Badr al-Riyadh and Jahim al-Murtaddeen ("The Russian Inferno" the "Battle of Badr at Riyadh" and "the Apostates' Inferno"), as well as the productions of Iraqi networks on the Internet, such as Ansar al-Sunna, the Islamic Army and (al-Zarqawi's) al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (www.alalam.ma).

One of the fundamental activists behind the group's planned campaign in Morocco, according to al-Alam, is an Algerian national named Abu Baseer. He is considered to be an ‘emir' (commander) of al-Qaeda in Europe working under the authority of al-Zarqawi. One of the 17 arrestees is believed to have handed over letters addressed to Osama bin Laden "focusing on the mujahideen in Saudi Arabia and Algeria and on the creation of an al-Qaeda organization in the North African states." (www.alalam.ma).

In this sense, the pattern follows closely what is known from strategy documents concerning the next stages of the development of jihad: the preparation of support bases for al-Qaeda in Algeria and Morocco through the joining of forces of the mujahideen following their recruitment. Following this is their dispatch to military camps run by the Algerian Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC), and then their training in the first phase for jihad in Iraq (or Syria in the event of American strikes). The second phase consists of their repatriation to Morocco in order to create sleeper cells, "to await the formation of a strong base from which to strike at economic and tourism targets, and Western institutions" (www.alalam.ma).

Funding and logistical support comes from Europe, as the Moroccan arrests demonstrated, mostly from channels in Spain and the United Kingdom, which funnel money acquired through voluntary contributions or petty crime. The current Moroccan investigations focused in particular on the role of Belgium. One of the leaders of the arrested group is considered to be Mohamed R'ha, a Belgian national of Moroccan ancestry, one of the operatives who had returned from ideological training in Syria to recruit members. On November 17 the trial in Brussels opened of Belgian and Moroccan nationals accused of belonging to a terrorist organization and providing logistical support to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (Groupe islamique combattant marocain—GICM). This group was founded in 1997 by Moroccan veterans of the jihad training camps in Afghanistan and is held responsible for recruiting the dozen suicide bombers who carried out the multiple bombings at Casablanca in May 2003, which left 44 dead. The GICM is also suspected of carrying out the Madrid train explosions that killed 191 people in March 2004.

This second atrocity prompted Belgian police to close in on a GICM network based in the provincial town of Maaseik, which served as a logistics center and meeting place for the group's European leadership, where, according to the Flemish daily Het Nieuwsblad, discussions on the GICM organization took place on three occasions [www.nieuwsblad.be]. According to the prosecution case, as reported by De Standaard, one of the prominent members of this group, the Moroccan Abdelkader Hakimi, was designated by a fellow member imprisoned in France as the leader of the GICM. The 19-year old Hakimi is believed to have spent half his life on the run, spending ten years in Algeria, journeying with false papers to Libya, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, producing false identity papers for himself and for Afghan militant veterans and to have fought in Bosnia during the civil war [www.standaard.be].

The activities of Hakimi illustrate the skills and strengths of North African militant groups in Europe. The GICM is believed to number some few hundred committed radicals, supported by 1,000 to 2,000 sympathizers operating on both shores of the Mediterranean. Cells have operated in Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain, the last of which announced on November 23 the arrest of 10 Moroccans and Algerians suspected of financing and giving logistical support to counterparts from the Algerian GSPC resident in Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Belgium and Denmark.

The revelation of the ideological training of Moroccans taking place on the borders with Iraq has added urgency to Moroccan security concerns since the November 9 bombings in the Jordanian capital Amman. Following the arrests of the 17 Moroccans, one Abu Mus'ab al-Iraqi (styling himself as the "al-Qaeda correspondent") denounced on November 23 the events on the al-Firdaws jihadi forum and at the same time deplored the activities of Morocco's "secular" Channel Two TV broadcaster. His objection was to the vox pop interviews in the wake of the Amman bombings, addressed to "the ignorant, weak and base people … who spoke of Zarqawi inventing a new religion, and referred to his ‘bankrupt mind' " [http://alfirdaws.org/forums]. According to al-Alam, Moroccan intelligence is convinced that their country lies third on al-Qaeda's list of targets, after Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and remain on the lookout for al-Qaeda operatives crossing over from Algeria, and for senior members entering the country from Belgium [www.alalam.ma].

The Jamestown Foundation

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,

Call for Dialogue with Political Islam

"Terrorism must end for peace to reign worlwide" - Director of Al-Andalus Studies Center

According to Abdeluajed Akmir after the attacks happened in Casablanca in May 16th 2003 Moroccans realized that the only way to finish with religious fanaticism is through a responsible dialogue among all those engaged in political Islam.

Abdeluajed Akmir, History professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, who will be one of the participants at the forthcoming International Congress on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue in Bilbao, affirms that government, civil society and intellectual reformers in Morocco are aware that peace cannot reign worldwide unless terrorism is finished as well as without assuring a good communication with the West.

In related news: Euromed: Agreement in Barcelona on an Anti-Terrorist Code of Conduct

"Inequality is greater between the two shores of the Mediterranean than anywhere else in the world,” so said Josep Borrell, President of the European Parliament, who did not hide his disappointment when making a critical assessment of 10 years of the Barcelona Process. Monday’s mixed outcome of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit, held in the Catalan capital, means that there is still some limited hope for closing the economic and social divide between both sides.

Ten years after its launch as the Barcelona Process, co-operation between the EU and its Mediterranean partners needed a new impetus. The Euromed discussions, held between the 24 and 28 November, should have marked the relaunch of the partnership which brings together EU member states and 10 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey).

Josep Borrell, who took part in the Summit of Heads of State and Government in his role as both President of the European Parliament and of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), acknowledged the lack of “any significant progress on the road to shared peace and prosperity.” The priority of the co-operation process remains the strengthening of trade relations and the gradual levelling of social inequalities between partners. However, if it is to succeed, both parties need to show real commitment. Political conditions, in the form of stability and democracy, also have to be present so that economic co-operation can bear fruit. The President of the Parliament emphasised that “economic and political objectives are indivisible.”

Euromed is one of the few forums for potential dialogue for some of the Middle Eastern countries involved in Euro-Mediterranean co-operation. However, several Mediterranean countries attending the Barcelona Summit were not represented at the highest level (namely Head of State or Head of Government). Nevertheless, the two meetings of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in Rabat and Barcelona enabled bilateral talks and exchanges of views on partnership relations to take place. The issue of immigration was also an important part of the discussions.

But it was concerted action against terrorism which occupied participants during Sunday and Monday. It was particularly difficult to reach agreement on the anti-terrorist “code of conduct” which formed an important part of the final agreement. In the end, a solution was found that was acceptable to all parties. It can only be hoped that this conclusion to the Summit augurs well for continued Euro-Mediterranean co-operation.


Tags: Morocco, Maghreb, Terrorism,

Terror cell was to target American, Jewish interests in Morocco

The seventeen islamists that were arrested mid-November were planning to bomb American and Jewish interests in Morocco, according to police sources.


Mohamed Mazouz and Brahim Benchekroun while leaving the prison of Salé in March.

One of the main suspects, Moroccan-born Belgian national, Mohamed Reha, 18, told the police that some Moroccans and Algerians, linked to al Qaeda, were planning to "bomb American and Jewish interests especially in Tangier (northern Morocco) and south-west city of Essaouira," as well as "representatives of the impious and infidel Moroccan authorities," said the same source.

He revealed that the group had intentions to "lead the jihad war against the regime in order to establish the Islamic Caliphate" in Morocco.

Police said the group, “shouldered by Algerian nationals who sneaked into Morocco,” was planning to perpetrate bombings “against hotels especially in Essaouira, where there is a big flow of Jewish tourists, and in Agadir (south-west), as well as against the casino in Tangier and the parliament in Rabat.”

Ships that transport Americans were also listed as targets, said the same source.

The police said Reha also revealed during the interrogation that some young people were being recruited to be sent to Algeria to be trained on “handling weapons and manufacturing explosives,” as a “first step” in the “Jihad project in Morocco and in the region.”

The suspect has also confessed he had come to Morocco “to conduct the terror operations” and admitted having “recruited some young people, who were arrested at the same time as himself, in Tangier, Agadir and Casablanca.”

Mohamed Reha, considered as one of the “masterminds of the terrorist cell,” told authorities he had discussed with his uncle, Ahmed Zemmouri, also a Moroccan-born Belgian islamist who was arrested, the need to “create a secret organisation.”

According to him, Algerian Khalid Abou Bassir, one of al Qaeda leaders in Europe, was to “contact our brothers of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (SGPC) to take charge of the training the Moroccan recruits.”

According to the police, Abou Bassir would have revealed to Reha his intention to create a “jihadist movement in the Arab Maghreb under the management of al Qaeda with a joint organization for Morocco and Algeria.” The group was to be named “al Qaeda Organisation in Arab Maghreb Countries.”

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,

Plan for "Bloody December" Terror Attacks.

In a follow up to the arrests we commented on in an earlier post, seventeen suspected members of an Islamic terrorist group appeared before an examining magistrate court in Sale, across the river from Rabat and were charged with "criminal conspiracy for terrorist attacks and breach of the peace".

The court was told that the men allegedly planned a "bloody December" that would have attacked tourist sites and public institutions in the kingdom.

They are also being accused of belonging to a "terrorist organisation linked to small groups operating on the Iraqi border, and having close connections with some leaders of the Al-Qaeda network".

Moroccan security forces have recently broken up what was described as a "terrorist cell on the make," consisting of elements affiliated to an extremist Islamic movement connected to small groups supervised by Al Qaeda.

According to security forces, Khalid Azig (a student in Syria), who entered Morocco last June was on 29 September joined by another suspected militant, Mohamed R`ha, a Belgian citizen of Moroccan descent.

The latter is known to have lived in Syria and maintained close ties with "former Moroccan Afghans" Brahim Benchekroun and Mohamed Mazouz, two former detainees at the U.S.-run Guantanamo detention camp, who were released temporarily.

Other charges accuse the men of "belonging to a criminal group, non- denunciation of terrorism and breach of national security. The charges also include giving support to a criminal group (Al Qaeda) through the transfer and distribution of funds to Moroccan citizens working against the country`s interests, forgery and use of a forged passport," the sources added.

In August 2004, the USA handed over to Moroccan officials five Moroccan nationals who had been captured in Afghanistan and detained in Guantanamo.

It would be interesting to know what sites the men were planning to attack and why December was chosen. If the aim was to create havoc amongst tourists like the attacks in Bali, then December is an odd choice as it is not a high season for tourists.


Morocco's Arabic-language daily Al Ahdath al Maghribia, widely seen as well-informed in security matters, quoted security sources as saying the plot included bombing two hotels and a "big company" in Casablanca, and unspecified government buildings in Rabat.

Al Ahdath al Maghribia said security forces arrested Azig, R'ha and 15 others early this month and recovered pictures they had taken of their intended targets.

"Morocco is one the first countries at the forefront of the global fight against terrorism. That is why it is targeted by al Qaeda," Maroc Hebdo quoted a police officer as saying

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,

Morocco's rising Islamist challenge

This is an interesting article from Geoff Pingree and Lisa Abend, correspondents of The Christian Science Monitor.

They claim that reforms by the Moroccan King are being tested by moderate and radical Islamist groups.




Photo Geoff Pingree

A law allows Morocco to monitor some mosques.
Men entered this one in Rabat in July.



Like the US after 9/11, Morocco has waged a war on terror ever since bombers struck the city of Casablanca in May 2003.

On Sunday, the country appeared to have won a minor battle: Its official press agency reported that Moroccan police arrested 17 men on Nov. 11 who may belong to Al Qaeda, including two who were previously imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay.

The arrests coincided with reports published in the newspaper Al Ahdath Almaghribia that Morocco's intelligence services were concerned about a serious threat of new attacks.

But in its struggle against Islamic extremism, Morocco faces challenges unknown in the US.

To combat terrorism, the country not only risks endangering the fragile civil rights its government has begun to encourage, but it must contend with the uncertain effects of emerging moderate Islamist movements. Indeed, the rise of Islamism in politics and Moroccan society will be a difficult test of the nation's proclaimed dedication to democratic reform.

For decades, Morocco has taken pride in its relatively liberal brand of Islam. Rather than an imam, King Mohammed VI is the chief spiritual leader here, and state law is influenced but not rooted in sharia, the Islamic code.

Diversity characterizes Moroccan Islam. Women's fashions, for example, range from head scarves to miniskirts. According to a recent Pew Research Center global survey, 79 percent of Moroccans - compared with 11 percent of Jordanians and 43 percent of Pakistanis - believe violence against civilians in support of Islam is never justified.

In the late 1990s, however, reports began to appear of Salafist radicals - many of them newly returned from the Afghan war - imposing a vigilante form of Islamic law in Morocco's shantytowns, stoning women who were "inappropriately" dressed, and throwing suspected drinkers and prostitutes into wells. The Casablanca bombings, which killed 45, awakened the country to an extremism within its own borders.

"We had always told ourselves that Morocco's Islam was tolerant," says Fatiha Ladayi, Morocco's director of communications. "I was aware that fundamentalism existed here. But I didn't think that our fundamentalists were violent."

The Casablanca attacks provoked fear among Moroccans that their homeland might succumb to the rigid Islamism that had overtaken neighboring Algeria. And the world at large noted the prominent role Moroccan-born men played in terrorist strikes in Madrid, Iraq, and elsewhere.

For Mohammed Darif, a political scientist at Mohammedia's Hassan II University, the connection is clear. "There are strong ties between the attacks in Casablanca and Madrid," he writes. "They were carried out by the same organization, the [Al Qaeda-linked] Moroccan Islamic Combat Group."

Radical Islam represents a double threat to the Moroccan state - undermining the government's image of moderation and challenging its control over the faith. In response, parliament approved in May 2003 the Ministry of Interior's wide-ranging Antiterrorism Law, which in its first five months permitted the arrests of 4,000 suspected extremists.

Some believe Morocco is exploiting the terrorist threat to justify its increasing control of moderate Islamic parties. When first proposed in 2001, the antiterrorism legislation - which allows the government to monitor imams, mosques, and the religious content of textbooks, and which defines even "apologizing for terrorism" as a crime - was opposed by the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). After the Casablanca bombings, however, the party backed away from its stance and the law passed.

Such acquiescence, coupled with the PJD's agreement to run in just 20 percent of 2003's local electoral contests, prompted suspicion that the party is giving in to government pressure to protect its position as Morocco's only legal Islamist party. Tremendously popular, Justice and Development won 42 seats in 2002's parliamentary elections, and because all other major parties joined Prime Minister Driss Jettou's coalition government, the PJD now functions as the opposition. Yet as the government has cracked down on Islamist extremism, the party's moderate brand of religion-based politics has come under heavy scrutiny.

In March, the government drafted a bill, the Law of Political Parties, that would ban religious (as well as regional and ethnic) references from party platforms. If it passes, the law will effectively dissolve the PJD and all other meaningful Islamist opposition.

In June, the state arrested Nadia Yassine, spokeswoman for Islamic movement Al Adl Wal Ihsan, or Justice and Charity, when she expressed her belief that Morocco would be healthier as a republic than a monarchy. In many ways Yassine symbolizes the state's Islamist dilemma: while she's a devout Muslim, married with four children, she is also a highly educated women's rights advocate who once told the BBC she believed the Prophet Muhammad was a de facto feminist.

If antagonism between the government and Islamist moderates continues, it may well cultivate further Islamic extremism. Increased political participation by moderate Islamist groups is the best way to curb the growth of extremism in Morocco, says Haizem Amirah, the senior North Africa analyst at the Royal Elcano Institute in Madrid.

"The moderate Islamists need to compete more in the political game, and form alliances with the secular groups," he explains. "That would check the radical sectors, because they would start to feel that they had less popular support, less a sense of a mission."

At PJD headquarters, vice-secretary Abdelah Baha maintains that his party can work within the existing system. "Islam and democracy can go together as global principle," he says. "Our party bases its objectives on religious principles, and then adapts them to political ends. We're like the American evangelicals."

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,

Jihadist video issues warning for its supporters in Morocco.

A message posted to jihadist websites on Wednesday warned its members that Morocco's intelligence services are carrying out a major crackdown against suspected Islamic militants. Headed 'Latest News from Morocco' it tells the "mujahadeen" to be "very careful".

According to the message, "The biggest US secret services operation in Africa has long been stationed in the city of Tangiers. In Morocco, people are happy to accept religious observance, especially young men and women, who have recently begun to wear the veil. Victory is close at hand if God wills it."

The message, signed by a certain Abu Musab al-Iraqi, is apparently targeted at jihadists abroad who may be planning terrorist attacks in Morocco - a NATO partner country and one of the United States' allies in its war on terror, as well as an exponent of moderate Islam.

According to Abu Musab al-Iraqi, young Moroccans are favourably disposed to radical Islam and al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's jihadist message. The message is likely to increase Moroccan intelligence services' already heightened state of alert.

Analysts believe Morocco is third on al-Qaeda's list of target countries, after Saudi Arabia and Jordan, according to Moroccan daily al-Alam, which quotes unnamed Moroccan secret service sources.

Since last week's triple hotel bombings in the Jordanian capital, Amman, which killed at least 57 people and injured nearly 100, intelligence services have warned that al-Qaeda operatives in Europe, may reach Morocco via Algeria, and that a senior al-Qaeda member in Belgium may enter the country using a false passport and carry out attacks.

Earlier this month, immediately after the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, a number of messages, signed by the Moroccan Armed Islamic group, which threatened the 'apostate' government of Morocco, appeared on Islamist websites.

It is also interesting to note that Jihad Unspun website has announced its closing.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,

Woman "Bomber" Caught

Sajida al-Rishawi confessed on Jordanian television on Sunday that she had tried to blow herself up alongside her husband in an Amman hotel last week in one of three attacks that killed more than 50 people.

"We went into the hotel. My husband took a corner and I took another. There was a wedding in the hotel. There were women and children. My husband executed the attack. I tried to detonate and it failed. People started running and I ran with them."

"My husband organized everything. I don't know anything. He had two explosive belts. He wore one and he made me wear the other one and taught me how to handle it."

Residents of Iraq's Anbar province said al-Rishawi comes from a clan living mostly in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold about 70 miles west of Baghdad.

The clan, known variously as the Burishas and the Rishawis, is known for its good ties with the Americans. Its members include Iraq's defense minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, who visited Jordan on Sunday.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,

Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah

Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah in Morocco issued a statement on October 25, 2005, declaring that the time has come to announce the “jihad on the government of disbelieving and oppression,” for the heads of government have allegedly “sold the country to the infidels after they cleared the area from the real Muslims who care about the religion.” The group claims that even before the “happenings” on May 16, referring to the bombings in Casablanca on May 16, 2003, the Moroccan government had arrested Muslims “who like jihad” and knowledgeable scholars on the subject. The bombings then exacerbated the alleged government policy, as they are charged with arresting all Sunni Muslim people.

The group asks for the support of Muslims and calls upon all Moroccan mujahideen to concentrate on jihad in Morocco. Further, they state that though they support al-Qaeda, they prefer to go “in our way of jihad”.

Morocco has long been one of the most reliable U.S. allies in North Africa and the Islamic world. It was one of the first nations to recognize the United States, formalizing diplomatic relations in 1787. Before his death in 1999, King Hassan II played a key role in U.S. efforts to negotiate peace deals involving Israel.

Since the Sept. 11 hijackings, Morocco's intelligence and security services have cooperated closely with the CIA in tracking and interrogating suspected Islamic militants. The United States, in turn, rewarded Morocco with a free-trade agreement.

The alliance is a sore point in some corners of Moroccan society, where there is a running conflict over Western influences. Vandalism is not uncommon at restaurants that serve alcohol or at hotels that cater to foreigners. In 1994, Muslim militants attacked a hotel in Marrakech, killing two Spanish tourists.

Islamic political parties and organizations are also becoming increasingly influential. While King Mohammed VI retains absolute authority and only government-endorsed parties are allowed to field candidates, Islamic movements retain broad public support and have gained power in recent elections. They have also established social welfare programs that in some cases are seen as more effective than those administered by the government.

The mainstream Muslim parties all strongly condemned the May 2003 bombings and espouse nonviolence. But they have clashed with the government over its response to the attacks, criticizing authorities for arresting hundreds of people just because they had ties to Islamic groups and for trying to turn public sentiment against religious parties.

Al-Salafiyah al-Jihadiyah, is believed to have been founded in the early 1990s by Mohamed Fizazi, a leader of the Salafist movement in Morocco, and alleged to be led by Mohamed Abdelouahab Rafiki, AKA Abu Hafs. The group is banned in Morocco and believed to be responsible for a number of criminal acts throughout the country.

Salafism is an ideology that posits that Islam has strayed from its origins. The word "salaf" is Arabic for "ancient one" and refers to the companions of the Prophet Mohammed. Arguing that the faith has become decadent over the centuries, Salafists call for the restoration of authentic Islam as expressed by an adherence to its original teachings and texts. According to Gilles Kepel, professor and chair of Middle East Studies at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, and the author of The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West; and Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam "Salafists originally are supposedly not violent They are not advocating the revolt against one who holds power, against the powers that be. They are calling for re-Islamization at the daily level."

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Jihad, Terrorism,