CAIRO — Morocco has renewed its crackdown on the Islamic opposition.
The North African kingdom has arrested more than 500 members of the
Justice and Spirituality Association, Morocco's largest Islamic opposition
group. The detainees included Mohammed Al Abadi, the No. 2 member of the
movement.
Islamic sources said the crackdown began in late May. The sources said
security forces raided such towns as Bouarfa, Oujda and Nador in
northeastern Morocco.
The detainees have been charged with plotting to overthrow the monarchy.
At this point, no specific charges have been reported, Middle East Newsline reported.
The Washington-based Jamestown Foundation said the association has been
targeted in a regime effort to intimidate the Islamic opposition from
campaigning for the 2007 parliamentary elections. Jamestown analyst Chris
Zambelis said the Islamist dissidents were held for only several hours
before being released.
The association, which Zambelis said maintains a moderate social and
political reform program, has been banned from running for elections. The
association has been opposed to the continuation of the monarchy.
Islamic sources said Moroccan police have beaten members of the
association. In one case, police were said to have looted the house of a
detainee.
At the same time, authorities prevented a demonstration by families of
Islamic dissidents at the Justice Ministry. Morocco has jailed at least
1,000 members of Salafiya Al Jihadiya and over the last few weeks many
have begun a hunger strike to protest severe prison conditions.
"Moroccan prison authorities are notorious for employing extreme
measures against jailed militants and other opponents of the regime,
including moderate Islamists and democratic activists," Zambelis said in a
report for Jamestown. "Many observers believe that this strategy contributes
to the radicalization of the regime's moderate opponents, making them prime
candidates for recruitment in militant organizations upon their release into
the general public."
In an unrelated development, Algerian newspapers reported on Monday that
19 Islamic insurgents were killed in a clash with the military. The reports
said the military and local militias conducted the attack in Anabeh, around
600 kilometers east of Algiers.
