The report, the department's annual review on global terrorism, said
Morocco was stressing security measures as well as international
cooperation, Middle East Newsline reported. Still, Al Qaida continued to recruit Moroccans for the Islamic
insurgency wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.
At the same time, Morocco was said to have repelled any threat from Al
Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb. The State Department said AQIM,
however, could be transferring operational expertise to local insurgency
cells.
"The group [AQIM] remained unable to mount a successful terrorist attack
in
Morocco," the report said. "Nonetheless, Moroccan authorities remained
concerned about the ideological inspiration and knowledge transfer that AQIM
may have provided to Moroccan extremists."
One concern was the AQIM campaign to organize a revolt in Morocco. The
report also cited fears that Moroccans involved in insurgency attacks in
Europe were returning to the North African kingdom.
Morocco has worked with France to form a new special weapons and
tactics, or SWAT, unit. The unit's responsibility would be to dismantle
suspected insurgency groups and respond to attacks.
Rabat also was cooperating with the United States in counter-insurgency
and money-laundering. The report said Morocco and the United States were
planning to begin what was termed "joint counter-radicalization programs."
"Moroccan authorities continued to disrupt plots to attack Moroccan,
U.S., and other Western-affiliated targets, and aggressively investigated
numerous individuals associated with international terrorist groups, often
in collaboration with international partners," the report said. "Morocco
participates in multilateral peacekeeping operations on the continent and in
training exercises."