CAIRO — The Moroccan Interior Ministry said 44 members of a suspected Al
Qaida-aligned group have been arrested after the government discovered efforts to organize an
Islamic rebellion.
The ministry said security forces, in the largest
such operation in 2006, seized explosives and laboratory equipment.
"The security services dismantled a terrorist network that planned to
commit criminal acts on national territory," Morocco's official news agency
MAP said on Monday.
The ministry identified the group as Gamiat Ansar El Mehdi, or the El
Mehdi Support Group, led by a so-called Salafist, a term used to describe Al
Qaida insurgents. A statement said El Mehdi, which has not issued any
statements, planned to declare holy war and launch an insurrection
in the provinces of Nador and Ouezzane in northeastern Morocco, Middle East Newsline reported.
Five of those arrested were described as soldiers trained to handle
explosives. The ministry reported arrests in Casablanca, Sale, Sidi Slimane,
Tetuan and other Moroccan cities.
Morocco has intensified security since the Al Qaida strikes in
Casablanca in 2003, which killed 45 people. Officials said at least 50
suspected insurgency cells, which contained more than 2,000 operatives, have
been dismantled.
In May 2006, authorities warned that the Islamic opposition was plotting
an insurrection. Hundreds of suspected Islamic insurgents were arrested.
Officials said El Mehdi planned to rob banks and convoys to raise money
to buy explosives. They said members of the insurgency group also planned to
take out loans to pay for operations.
"An investigation has shown that this group was planning to finance its
activities through robbing financial institutions and cash transport
vehicles as well as collecting money and contribution from its members," MAP
said.
