Bomb attack in Morocco tourist cafe kills 14

MARRAKESH – A bomb killed 14 people including foreigners in Morocco's bustling tourist destination of Marrakesh, officials said on Thursday, in an attack that bore the hallmark of Islamist militants.

The blast ripped through a cafe overlooking Marrakesh's Jamaa el-Fnaa square, a spot that is often packed with foreign tourists. A Reuters photographer said he saw rescuers pulling dismembered bodies from the wreckage.

If the bombing is the work of Islamist militants, it will be the first time they have carried out a major attack in Morocco since 2003, when a series of suicide bombings in the commercial capital, Casablanca, killed more than 45 people.

The latest blast is likely to hurt Morocco's tourism trade -- a major source of revenue -- which is already struggling to recover from the effects of the global downturn.

Two residents in Marrakesh who were near the square told Reuters the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber, but there was no immediate confirmation of this.

Quote:

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/007325.html

19 May 2011
Something about Moroccans, Germany, and al-Qaida
CNN reports

Morocco bombing investigation goes international

Choice bits:

Three more suspects have been arrested in connection with the April 28 bombing in Marrakech which killed 17 people and injured 20 others.

CNN learned Wednesday from security sources that Moroccan police have apprehended three Moroccan males in the coastal town of Safi, the hometown of the alleged chief perpetrator of the bombing, Adil El Atmani. This brings the total number of arrests in Morocco to six.

The sources confirmed that El Atmani is the chief suspect held by the police, following press speculation this week that he was being held, which was unconfirmed by the Moroccan government.

The security sources also confirmed that Moroccan authorities are working closely with the FBI and German police. They pointed to the recent arrests in Germany of three men, two of them with connections to Morocco, who are accused of plotting terror attacks in Germany. They said those arrests came the day after the Marrakech attack, and that the leader of the German cell is a Moroccan who was in contact with El Atmani before the Marrakech bombing and is known by German security services to be both an operative of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and an expert in explosives.

Posted on 19 May 2011 @ 20:02

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