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| Europe |
| FBIS: Italian plot thwarted by Moroccan secret police |
| 2006-04-07 |
| An informed judiciary source has revealed the fate of nine Moroccan youths who were arrested in obscure circumstances in Moulay Rachid district, Casablanca, in the middle of last week. The same source says that the detained youths, who have been arrested by elements from the directorate of the security of the territory [DST, secret service] because of their links with an already captured Tunisian national, have been all brought before the investigating judge, in Sale court of appeal. The youths were investigated in detail in relation to accusations of setting up a criminal gang to prepare and use explosives, severely endangering public order and collecting money in order to finance acts of sabotage. The source adds that the Moroccan suspects as well as a Tunisian national called Mohamed Ben Hedi Msahel have been arrested in successive police raids after the discovery that the Tunisian national had been forging passports and had close ties with eight Moroccan youths. Preliminary investigations showed that the nine arrested persons used to meet in circumstances described by the source as "suspicious", in a place rented by the Tunisian Mohamed Ben Hedi Msahel. The source further says that, in raids carried out in the work places of two accused and in houses in Moulay Rachid district, the police has found several cassettes, compact discs and Salafia Jihadia books which belong to the Tunisian national. The latter used to distribute them to the members of his group. According to the same source, the Tunisian security services have asked their Moroccan counterparts to deport the Tunisian suspect to Tunisia, and it is quite possible that the Tunisian demand will be met given the existence of a memo of judiciary cooperation between Rabat and Tunis. However, the source rules out that the Tunisian demand will be met before the completion of the detailed investigations in Morocco, and the clarification of all facts regarding this case. In this connection, the same judiciary source says that the police raids have been secretly prepared to ensure their success, and they came after the secret police had observed suspicious moves made by the nine arrested men. The latter have become closely connected and have started expanding their cell whose objectives remain unclear, so far. It is however assumed that the cell was busy making preparations for acts of sabotage against public services in Morocco. Moreover, a source close to the family of one of the arrested men says that the police have arrived at his house in civilian clothes. They searched the house and took away with them Said Farez who was arrested while on his way to his vocational training school. The source adds that the police have arrested also Abdelhak Ettouri, Lahsene Mahater and Said Gharrar in the evening of the same day. The same source points out that the secret police men have used a kidnapping style in arresting the men in question, and this has led the relatives of the latter to take legal action and to ask the Ministry of Justice to launch an investigation into the kidnapping of the eight youths. This request was all the more relevant because the Ben Msik-Sidi Othman regional police directorate had denied any knowledge of the arrests of the youths. The same source adds that, since they learned about the fate of their children and of the accusations made against them, their families have been in a state of shock and disarray caused by the arrests revealed by the judiciary authorities after indicting the nine detainees. According to locals in Moulay Rachid district, this case came to the open early last week after the family of Said Farez had called for an investigation into his kidnapping by elements in civilian clothes who took him to an unknown destination. This case is the latest in a series of court cases brought before the judges of the Rabat court of appeal and involving the dismantling of terrorist plans at the stage of preparation. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |