Moroccan security forces urged citizens on Friday to help them hunt two men with suspected al Qaeda links as the country remained on high alert after a string of bomb attacks earlier this week in neighbouring Algeria.Arabic-language daily al Maghribia, which is close to the government, said authorities had information indicating al Qaeda operatives were attempting to infiltrate via Algeria. Security sources said Moroccan authorities had some intelligence information about a possible al Qaeda attack, but lacked details.
Following a meeting of top security officials, authorities named the two men as Aziz Chaguan and Abdelhali Chairi and said they had suspected links to Algeria's Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Islamist rebel group, previously known as Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), has stepped up a campaign of bombings and ambushes in Algeria in recent months. It claimed responsibility for the seven bombs which exploded almost simultaneously on Tuesday, killing six people east of the capital Algiers. Moroccan authorities last launched a public call for help in rounding up suspects in 2003 after suicide bombings killed 45 people in Casablanca, the kingdom's commercial capital.