Extremist Islam may be rising in Morocco

AP on Yahoo ^ | 9/29/06 | John Thorne - ap

[NormsRevenge]

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 people in Casablanca, this country's economic capital, Moroccans have grown accustomed to police crackdowns on Islamic militants.

Thousands have been detained, drawing frequent accusations of abuse and forced confessions at the hands of police.

What's new in the latest case is the wide range of people accused. Middle-class women and security force members allegedly formed the core of a group that authorities say called itself Ansar al-Mehdi, or Supporters of the Mehdi — a divine figure in Islamic tradition who will establish justice on Earth before Judgment Day.

Previously, Islamic extremism was most evident in Morocco's urban slums like Sidi Moumen, the cinderblock jungle in Casablanca where many of the 2003 suicide bombers lived. If the charges are true, the new case would suggest Muslim militancy is spreading into the middle class.

Penetration of the army would be a particular blow because the Western-equipped force has traditionally stood as a pillar of state power. After the sweep, King Mohammed VI fired the head of military intelligence and the head of Morocco's general security forces.

Morocco ended compulsory military service this month, but officials said it had nothing to do with the Ansar al-Mehdi revelations.

Officials have released little information about the Mehdi suspects and their alleged targets, divulging just a few names. The Justice Ministry says judges are preparing for public hearings originally planned for mid-September but now delayed until late October.

Two of the four female suspects are wives of Royal Air Maroc pilots, and Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa alleged they were recruited by alleged Ansar al-Mehdi chief Hassan Khattab to carry out suicide attacks in Morocco.

Khattab spent two years in jail for involvement in the May 2003 suicide bombings.

Another woman in custody, Fatima Zahra Rehioui, 51, is described by authorities as a central figure in the alleged plot. In a rare news conference in August, Benmoussa said Rehioui was a confidant of Khattab and knowingly gave him $17,280 for terrorist activities.

Rehioui's lawyer tells a different story, describing her as someone who helps people. Attorney Khalid Idrissi said Khattab asked Rehioui for the money so he could see a doctor about a heart condition and she gave the money freely, with no questions asked.

"She's known as a very charitable woman who helps poor families in her area, especially during Ramadan and at other religious festivals," Idrissi said.

Moroccan authorities say that Badr Bouziki, a 27-year-old shopkeeper, also was deeply involved with Ansar al-Mehdi and that he helped test explosives in forests near Sale, just outside the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

"I know that he's not guilty," said one of Bouziki's relatives. He asked not to be further identified, saying he feared possible government reprisal.

The relative said that Bouziki is not particularly religious and that his arrest at a bus station while visiting relatives in north-central Morocco came as "a complete surprise."

When he visited Bouziki in jail, the relative said, the suspect complained of torture and showed signs of beatings.

Mohamed Khalouki, 27, whose family lives in an outlying village of Sale, is one of five soldiers arrested in the terror sweep.

"We know the truth: He has nothing to do with Ansar al-Mehdi," said Khalouki's sister, who also said she feared being quoted by name.

Growing up amid dusty fields, stands of pine trees and patches of rubbish, Khalouki sought purpose in military service, choosing to enroll at a military school at age 12, his family said.

Drawn early to music, he became a drummer in the army band, traveling to Europe for concerts and shifting his ambitions to a musical career. Denied permission to quit the army, he deserted in 2005 and was captured this year, serving three months in jail, the family said.

"On the day he was supposed to get out, I went to pick him up, but he wasn't there," a brother said. Khalouki had been transferred into police custody for alleged involvement with four fellow band members in Ansar al-Mehdi.

[NormsRevenge]

Moroccan Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa speaks during a press conference in Rabat, in this Aug. 31, 2006 file photo. Little would seem to connect a soldier, a shopkeeper, airline pilots' wives and a woman known as a philanthropist. But all are suspects in an Islamic terrorist plot, suggesting that extremism in Morocco may be leaping class divides.Take Fatima Zahra Rehioui, 51, a central character in the case as told by Moroccan authorities. In a rare press conference in August, Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa named her as 'Oum Saad', a confidant of alleged Ansar al-Mehdi chief Hassan Khattab who had knowingly given him 150,000 dirhams ($17,280; 13,550) toward terrorist activities.(AP Photo/MAP)

[NormsRevenge]

Trouble with a capital T..

[Jeff Chandler]

This is terrible news. That's where my sardines come from.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

"I came to Casablanca for the waters."
But Rick, Morocco is a desert.
"I was misinformed..."

[Youngman442002]

Call Bob Hope and Bing Crosby

[Brilliant]

Can't be... We haven't invaded Morocco.

[Zhang Fei]

Muslim governments have spent decades fomenting Islamic extremism in their schools and in the official media. They are now paying the price.

[Dajjal]

What's new in the latest case is the wide range of people accused. Middle-class women and security force members allegedly formed the core of a group that authorities say called itself Ansar al-Mehdi, or Supporters of the Mehdi — a divine figure in Islamic tradition who will establish justice on Earth before Judgment Day.

Ideas have consequences. But the reporter still doesn't get it. If these ordinary, cosmopolitan Muslims are expecting the Mehdi, that means they perceive the "Signs of Qiyama" (End-Times) unfolding -- including the presence of the Dajjal (i.e., Evil Western Civilization). The reporter is still hung up on the idea that the mehdi will "establish justice" and doesn't get it that the way the Mehdi does that is by killing the Dajjal and every infidel on the face of the planet.

For an explanation of the Islamic End-Times beliefs, see my FR homepage.

[USF]

Thanks... this makes an great update to an earlier article:

The Islamization of Morocco -- Extremism is displacing moderation in the North African kingdom

Excerpts:

...in Morocco's big cities and in its villages, street vendors sell Islamist propaganda calling for jihad and the subjugation of women, spewing anti-Semitism and hatred of the West, on audio and video tapes, CDs and DVDs. One of the bestselling CDs is a rant by a salafi preacher named Abdellah Nihari, who teaches that "women are creatures of Satan" even when they are veiled. For him, women's liberation is to blame for every evil in society. Islamists also have their own freelance "religious police" who operate illegally, mostly on beaches, targeting unmarried couples for harassment, assault, and even, in a few cases in recent years, murder.

Another sign of Islamization can be found in opinion surveys of Moroccan youths. According to a January 2006 study by L'Economiste, 44 percent of Moroccans aged 16 to 29 think al Qaeda is not a terrorist organization, 38 percent "don't know," and a mere 18 percent consider it a terrorist group

With the salafis running the show, no one is safe... when the butchering of all the kuffar is over, they will not be done. It will then be time to play out the prophecy of the 72 sects where followers of all the other sects of islam will have to be eradicated, islamic style, for not being the one "true believers" who have not deviated from the path of allah and engaged in "bidah."

So which ever way you look at it islam will bring them nothing but eternal bloodshed and violence and ultimately, inshallah, their own destruction.

[Chewie84]

I have a cousin who used to be married to a Muslim guy from Morocco. She eventually divorced him when she realized he was pretty much just using her (Or, more specifically, his marriage to her) to keep from getting deported.
Anyway, it doesn't matter. Radical Islam is a threat all over the world, and articles like this prove it.

[sappy]

No doubt.

[jan in Colorado]

She's known as a very charitable woman who helps poor families in her area, especially during Ramadan and at other religious festivals," Idrissi said.

Yes, they are all law abiding, peaceful loving muslims until...

They get the call...

[Fred Nerks]

"So which ever way you look at it islam will bring them nothing but eternal bloodshed and violence and ultimately, inshallah, their own destruction."


inshalla! mohammad was a necrophiliac, an anti-life force:



The traits of the necrophilous character include:

*an inability to relate to living people

*language that includes numerous death-related or scatological words

*a tendency toward boredom and lifeless conversation *

*a tendency to wear light-absorbing dark colors and to dislike bright colors

*the belief that resolving conflict involves force or violence

*an appreciation for machines over people

*dreams involving death, destruction or dead parts
an interest in sickness

*a view that the past is more real than the present

*a fascination with bad odors

*an incapacity to laugh and tendency to smirk
a lack of spontaneity

*lifeless, dry skin

*the worship of techniques or devices of destruction

*the compartmentalization of emotion and will
insensitivity to tragedy involving loss of life

Fromm believed that Adolf Hitler was the perfect example of a necrophilous character, and to illustrate this he analyzed Hitler's life at length, from childhood to his death by suicide.

Hitler gained a position of power that allowed him to exercise to the extreme his fascination with death and destruction, and his desire for a lifeless world. He related best to his dog (when the dog obeyed him), and he exercised total control over the men who worked for him and the women who fell in love with him. A number of these women committed or attempted to commit suicide over his inability to relate to them as people. He was oblivious. He lived with an insatiable hate and the only emotion he showed was excitement over putting his plans into effect (killing the Jews and "defectives") or murderous anger that someone did not carry out his orders. Many people around him questioned whether he ever wanted or believed in victory for the German people, or whether he merely reveled in the constant destruction involved in his rise to power. He was without compassion for anyone and desired only that others afford him the worship and respect he believed he deserved.

In Hitler's case, the necrophilic response to the world is both symbolic and real. He wanted living people to be dead—millions of them—and he wanted a lifeless world where people were more robotic then human. He craved absolute control, which is only achieved when people are inherently not human. There's little question that his orientation was toward death.

Thus, we can see that one need not crave the closeness of a corpse to be considered necrophilous. One need only prefer the images of death to those of life.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/necrophiles/4.html

[Fred Nerks]

Your tagline! Pope Benedict said it all.

("Show me what Mohamed brought that was new & you 'll find only evil and inhuman")

[jan in Colorado]

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Palaeologus

Manuel II Palaeologus wasn't silenced by political correctness!

I'm glad the Pope has finally let the dirty little secret out of the bag. Of course some of us have known the truth for quite some time now, and there are others who still have their heads in the sand.

[PGalt]

Thanks for the ping Dajjal. History-in-the-making BUMP! Thanks to ALL contributors to this thread.

[Fred Nerks]

Manuel II Palaeologus wasn't silenced by political correctness!

------

Political correctness is simply a marxist plot, designed to keep the sheeple from speaking out. And it has to stop.

[USF]

That certainly gives me a new perspective to consider.

I never did encounter necrophilous disorders much in psyc and I'm still figuring out in my head where it falls (overlaps?) on the DSM IV.

Perhaps I need to brush up on my Fromm...

[USF]

She's known as a very charitable woman who helps poor families in her area, especially during Ramadan and at other religious festivals," Idrissi said.

Yes, they are all law abiding, peaceful loving muslims until...

They get the call... They explode!