CAIRO — Moroccan officials said Al Qaida and aligned groups have sent death
threats to politicians and intellectuals. The officials said the recipients
were those who supported the counter-insurgency campaign in the North
African kingdom.
One group, termed "The Moroccan Islamic Army for Sharia," has threatened
Mohammed Yazghi, secretary-general of the Socialist Union. Others who
received the death threats included Idriss Lashgar, chairman of the
socialist bloc in parliament and Finance Minister Fathallah Oualalou.
[On Wednesday, Morocco reported the arrest of another Al Qaida suspect, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said he was part of an attempt to reconstitute Al Qaida in several
Moroccan cities.]
Officials said Al Qaida has sought to replenish its ranks with
veterans of the war in Afghanistan. They said Al Qaida planned to carry out
attacks this month.
"In theory, socialists are apostates but killing them is unlikely
because of the absence of war with this group," Mohammed Al Rami, an expert
on Al Qaida, said. "Still, smaller groups might seize the initiative and
implement these threats, as with the case of the murder of Jarallah Omar,
the socialist leader in Yemen."
[On Thursday, at least 30 people were killed in Baghdad when a suicide
bomber detonated an explosive belt in a packed bus. The vehicle blew up as
it pulled out of a bus station for the Shi'ite city of Nasseriya.]
Al Rami said the Moroccan Islamic Army for the Sharia was unknown. He
said the most militant group in Morocco was Usbat Falah, which issued a
communique from Syria in November 2005.
Officials said Al Qaida has recruited scores of Islamists to form cells
in Casablanca, Rabat and other cities. They said 18 people have been charged
with leading the Al Qaida revival with the help of Abu Mussib Al
Zarqasi, network chief in Iraq.
Al Rami reported a power vacuum in Al Qaida and related groups in wake
of the arrest of more than 6,000 Islamists in Morocco since 2003. He said a
new cadres of operatives have sought to take over the insurgency in the
kingdom.
Officials said Al Qaida also sought to use Morocco as a launching pad
for attacks in Saudi Arabia. They said the Islamic detainees planned to form
an Al Qaida network in the North African region, particularly against such
U.S. allies as Algeria and Tunisia.
