Posted on 06/10/2002 5:21:42 PM PDT by blam
Monday, 10 June, 2002, 23:22 GMT 00:22 UK
Morocco 'uncovers al-Qaeda plot'
Reports from Morocco say three Saudi members of al-Qaeda have been arrested as they prepared attacks on American and British naval ships in the Straits of Gibraltar. There has been no formal announcement from the Moroccan authorities, but officials are quoted as saying the three had been arrested in May with the help of the intelligence services of several friendly countries.
The names of the detainees were not released.
The men, aged between 25 and 35, are reported to have links to the al-Qaeda, the organisation suspected of carrying out the 11 September attacks in the United States.
Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the suspects planned to sail an inflatable dinghy loaded with explosives alongside ships patrolling the straits.
In October 2000 two suicide bombers, suspected of being members of al-Qaeda, carried out a similar attack against the USS Cole in Yemen killing 17 sailors.
The suspects were planning to sail the dinghies from Ceuta and Melillia, the Spanish enclaves on Moroccan territory, the officials said.
The British Foreign Office issued a statement welcoming "the arrests if they involve individuals who may have been planning terrorist attacks against UK assets".
A French judicial official on Monday confirmed the existence of "an anti-terrorist police operation in liaison with Western interests in the Strait of Gibraltar".
Joint operation
The arrests in Morocco were made with the help of intelligence services of "several friendly countries," one official told the Associated Press news agency.
The men placed under arrest are not wanted in any other country, the officials said.
The three are being held in custody in Casablanca prior to their interrogation, the officials said.
The arrested men are reported to have been married to Moroccan women and to have been totally integrated into Moroccan society.
Saudi? Now who'd of thunk it? Funding all those madrassas turns out a high number of Wahabi nutballs.
May............just like the guy from Chicago.Hmmmm.
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