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It feels strange visiting a country like Morocco and listening to people extol the virtues of a political system my country waged a revolution against. Morocco has a king, and he’s a real one too, not some kind of a figurehead. But I went there, I listened, and after almost ten years of visiting Middle Eastern countries wracked by tyranny, terrorism, botched revolutions, and wars, I was perhaps a bit more willing to hear what they had to say than I might have been a decade ago. A monarchy is a tough sell for Americans. The founders of our country...

WASHINGTON: The famous African explorer Dr David Livingstone might have been impressed, even if the agenda was suspect. Pakistan’s disgraced nuclear proliferator-hero Abdul Qadeer Khan traversed the breadth of Africa in his hey day as a nuclear salesman , going to as romantic a getaway as Casablanca in Morocco and as remote an outpost as Timbuktu in Mali.   US officials might dearly like to get hold of Khan’s travel agent, or simply his itinerary, since he seems to have pretty much charted his own course during his profligate proliferating days. According to accounts now surfacing in the Pakistani media,...

The London accountant who accompanied Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan to Timbuktu on three occasions in 1998, 1999 and 2000 says the 'father' of the Pakistani bomb witnessed the digging of a well, toured an ancient Islamic library and enjoyed the views of the desert. A remote outpost in the middle of the West African desert, Timbuktu usually attracts explorers associated in the popular mind with the adventures of the comic character Tin Tin. And Pakistani dissidents told rediff.com the reason for Khan's visit to Timbuktu, part of landlocked West African state of Mali, was to prospect for uranium. They say...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Alabama Men Arrested on Terrorism Charges U.S. Attorney’s Office December 11, 2012 Southern District of Alabama MOBILE, AL—U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama and Stephen E. Richardson, Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile Division of the FBI, announced that Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair, 25, and Randy Wilson, also known as Rasheed Wilson, 25, both U.S. citizens living in Mobile, were arrested today on terrorism charges filed in the Southern District of Alabama. A criminal complaint signed on December 10, 2012, charges Abukhdair and Wilson with conspiring to...

(VIDEO AT LINK) When asked if she has a candidate she would like to endorse in the 2012 GOP field, Fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) said she hasn't made up her mind as of now, and that it wouldn't matter. Palin said her endorsement would amount to a "hill of a beans." "I think today, my personal endorsement, probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans today, at this point in the race," Palin said on FOX News' "Hannity" program. Palin said later in the race perhaps her endorsement may have more weight, but admitted at this moment it doesn't...

SNIPPET: "Rabat — Morocco's security forces have broken up a five-member terrorist cell that used to operate in the cities of Salé (near Rabat) and Casablanca, National Police Department said on Saturday in a statement. The statement added that the dismantled cell includes a member linked to the former emir of al Qaeda network in northern Iraq. The cell, which pledged allegiance to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, used Internet to forge close ties with al Qaida, especially in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Yemen and Somalia, it said." SNIPPET: "To carry out their plans, the members of the cell contacted, via Internet, experts in...

Former Pakistan strong man Perez Musharraf is astounded that a fortress compound could be constructed in his country 800 yards from Pakistan’s major military academy to provide protection for Osama Bin Laden without the government’s knowledge. He is likewise aghast that the United States did not trust Pakistan’s intelligence to cooperate in the raid on this compound, as “we are fighting the same enemy.” Lastly, he is bamboozled, saddened, and chagrined that the US violated Pakistan’s sovereignty, which he would not have allowed, were he in any position to stop it. In other news, enhanced CGI will allow casting the...

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) -- A man with explosives hidden on his body blew himself up in an Internet cafe after the owners prevented him from looking at terror Web sites, the Interior Ministry said Monday. The man was killed and four people were injured in the Sunday night blast in a Casablanca slum, said ministry spokesman Abderrahman Achour. One of the wounded was the dead man's companion, who was hospitalized with burns and a throat injury. Both men were carrying explosives. But officials believe the cybercafe may not have been their target and that the explosion was an accident, Mokhtar...

NOTE: THIS IS THE NEW FLOTILLA/CONVOY/"HUMANITARIAN AID"/"HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS" THREAD. SNIPPET: "While the debate over mosque development in New York continues to dominate the news cycle, opposing sides in the Israeli blockade on Gaza are gearing up for a new round of confrontations that could take place as soon as next month. Although the list of items restricted from entering Gaza has been dramatically reduced, George Galloway, the ex-British MP who runs the group Viva Palestina, promises a new land convoy leaving from London, Casablanca and Doha September 18. Galloway has made it clear his mission has more to do...

Casablanca, Play it Sam...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

Casablanca - Nine convicted terrorists have escaped from a Moroccan jail through a tunnel they dug out under their cells. The nine fundamentalists were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for their involvement in suicide attacks in Casablanca five years ago. Forty-five people, including 12 suicide bombers, were killed in Morocco's deadliest bombings ever. The Moroccan authorities have launched a large-scale manhunt for the nine convicts.

It is one of the greatest films of Hollywood's golden era, a triple Oscar-winning classic with electrifyingly charismatic stars and a script bursting with memorable lines. But now Madonna has stunned the movie industry with plans to remake Casablanca – and this time set it in Iraq. The singer, whose previous film career has been littered with critical and commercial turkeys, is also planning to take the lead role of Ilsa Lund, which originally made a star of Ingrid Bergman.

PARIS, June 19, 2007 (AFP) - French prosecutors on Tuesday sought sentences of up to 10 years in jail for eight men accused of helping the perpetrators of bomb attacks in Morocco in 2003 that left 45 dead. The eight men -- a Turkish national and seven Moroccans or French nationals of Moroccan origin -- went on trial on June 4 on charges of criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist undertaking. Prosecutors argued that the eight were members of a cell with ties to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), which is believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda. Alleged...

Moroccan police say they have arrested the leader of a militant cell suspected of responsibility for Tuesday's deadly explosions in Casablanca and another a month ago. The suspect has not been named. The man was arrested in a raid on the outskirts of Casablanca. Police also discovered a hiding place being used to make explosives. Police say all the members of the group have now been identified and are still at large. Earlier today, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in attacks targeting United States diplomatic offices in Casablanca. Last Tuesday, three suicide bombers killed themselves in Casablanca when police...

Excerpt - CASABLANCA, Morocco, April 14 (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers killed themselves in an attack on U.S. diplomatic offices in Morocco's commercial hub Casablanca on Saturday, the scene of three suicide blasts four days ago, witnesses said. "Only the two bombers were killed," a police source said of the mid-morning attack in the port city. Witnesses said the first blast happened about six metres (yards) from the U.S. cultural centre and the second went off about 60 metres away from the nearby U.S. consulate. Police cordoned off the area and were hunting for a third man seen running from...

Bombers blow themselves upFrom correspondents in Casablanca April 11, 2007 07:45amDeadly raid ... police look for evidence on the body of one of the bombers / AFP Three men blow themselves up to avoid capture Fourth gunned down after brandishing sabre Police and civilians killed and hurt in blasts THREE bombing suspects have blown themselves up after a police raid on a house in a Casablanca slum in which a fourth man was shot dead. The carnage began when police launched a dawn operation in the el Fida district of the Moroccan city looking for suspects involved in a bomb...

Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.Sun Tzu Wednesday, May 25th 2005 “The Moroccan Services Had Information about 3/11”ALI LMRABET. Special for EL MUNDO. KENITRA (MOROCCO) – From the Central Prison in Kenitra, the Moroccan Islamist Jihadist Salahedin Benyaich, also known as ‘Abu Mughen’ or ‘The One-Eyed’, has conceded an interview to EL MUNDO to tell his truth on 3/11, 9/11 and the Casablanca attacks. One of the masterminds of this massacre, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for belonging to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM). He has fought...

Bomber wounds three in Casablanca A suicide bomber has wounded three people in an internet cafe in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.The attack, which took place on Sunday evening in the Sidi Moumen district of the city, left the bomber dead. The blast happened after the man began a dispute with the cafe's owner, who refused him access to jihadist sites. Another man, with the bomber at the time of the blast, fled after the explosion but has now been arrested by police, reports say. "The man used to come to view jihadist websites and the dispute was prompted...

RABAT, Morocco - Little would seem to connect a soldier, a shopkeeper, airline pilots' wives and a woman known for helping people in need. But all have been named as suspects in a purported Islamic terrorist plot, suggesting extremism may be leaping Morocco's class divides. In all, Moroccan authorities arrested 56 people last month for allegedly being part of a network that was planning attacks on military and tourist sites in hopes of bringing down the government of this North African monarchy. Since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States and suicide bombings two years later that killed 33...