J-10
07-26-2004, 05:54 AM
Morocco 'lost 400 al Qaeda men'
Sunday, July 25, 2004 Posted: 6:35 AM EDT (1035 GMT)
MADRID, Spain (*******) -- Morocco has warned Spain that it has lost track of 400 Moroccan Islamist militants who trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, Bosnia or Chechnya, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported Sunday.
Moroccan authorities gave the warning to Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain's leading al Qaeda expert, in Rabat earlier this month, El Pais said, citing a person who was present at the meeting.
Spain and Morocco have been cooperating closely in security matters since the March 11 train bombings that killed 191 people and injured 1,900 in Madrid.
Investigators blame the attacks on Islamist militants acting in the name of al Qaeda, and a Spanish judge has formally accused 24 people of involvement, most of whom are Moroccan.
Authorities in Rabat told Garzon they knew of 600 Moroccan nationals who had trained at al Qaeda camps but only knew the whereabouts of 200 of them, El Pais said.
Garzon has been investigating suspected al Qaeda cells in Spain for years and has ordered 15 suspected members of the network to face trial. He was in Morocco to question several militants who are in jail there.
Morocco has suffered its own deadly attacks by radical Islamists.
Coordinated attacks in May last year killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers, in Casablanca, shocking a pro-Western kingdom which had prided itself of being a haven of stability in the Arab world.
The assailants, who the government says were bankrolled by al Qaeda, targeted international restaurants, a hotel, a Jewish center and a Jewish cemetery in Morocco's largest city.
Morocco's Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa said earlier this month that two Casablanca suspects were still on the run but the case had been all but closed.
About 1,000 people have been jailed on terrorist charges since the May 16 attacks, he said. These included 16 death penalties and several terms of life imprisonment.
Morocco has tried hard to dispel the image of a country harboring hundreds of Islamists who pose a threat to Europe.
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/07/25/morocco.militants.reut/index.html)
Sunday, July 25, 2004 Posted: 6:35 AM EDT (1035 GMT)
MADRID, Spain (*******) -- Morocco has warned Spain that it has lost track of 400 Moroccan Islamist militants who trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, Bosnia or Chechnya, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported Sunday.
Moroccan authorities gave the warning to Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain's leading al Qaeda expert, in Rabat earlier this month, El Pais said, citing a person who was present at the meeting.
Spain and Morocco have been cooperating closely in security matters since the March 11 train bombings that killed 191 people and injured 1,900 in Madrid.
Investigators blame the attacks on Islamist militants acting in the name of al Qaeda, and a Spanish judge has formally accused 24 people of involvement, most of whom are Moroccan.
Authorities in Rabat told Garzon they knew of 600 Moroccan nationals who had trained at al Qaeda camps but only knew the whereabouts of 200 of them, El Pais said.
Garzon has been investigating suspected al Qaeda cells in Spain for years and has ordered 15 suspected members of the network to face trial. He was in Morocco to question several militants who are in jail there.
Morocco has suffered its own deadly attacks by radical Islamists.
Coordinated attacks in May last year killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers, in Casablanca, shocking a pro-Western kingdom which had prided itself of being a haven of stability in the Arab world.
The assailants, who the government says were bankrolled by al Qaeda, targeted international restaurants, a hotel, a Jewish center and a Jewish cemetery in Morocco's largest city.
Morocco's Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa said earlier this month that two Casablanca suspects were still on the run but the case had been all but closed.
About 1,000 people have been jailed on terrorist charges since the May 16 attacks, he said. These included 16 death penalties and several terms of life imprisonment.
Morocco has tried hard to dispel the image of a country harboring hundreds of Islamists who pose a threat to Europe.
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/07/25/morocco.militants.reut/index.html)