Moroccan authorities are holding five men on charges of planning terrorist attacks, judicial sources said on Monday. The five, from a village near the capital Rabat, were formally detained on Monday after appearing before a court, the sources said, without further identifying those arrested. They had been picked up at the end of last month.The five face charges of "forming a criminal group with the aim of preparing and committing terrorist acts... of belonging to a banned organisation (Salafia Jihadia) and organising public meetings without authorisation", one of the judicial sources said.
Morocco has stepped up security since a deadly blast in Casablanca in 2003 left 33 dead, with three further suicide bomb attacks earlier this year in the same city.