Casablanca court gets tough

2003-09-25 08:58

Casablanca, Morocco - A court in Morocco has called for the death sentence for three Islamic fundamentalist preachers, two of whom are said to be the brains behind the extremist group behind suicide attacks here in May, legal sources said Wednesday.

Hassan Kettani, Abdelwahab Rafiki, also known as Abou Hafs, and Hicham Saber are on trial for "setting up a criminal group, undermining internal state security, acts of sabotage and murder and attempted sabotage with premeditation."

Hafs and Kettani, who were arrested in March and February this year, are regarded as leaders of the banned Salafia Jihadia movement, which has been accused by Moroccan investigators of masterminding the series of suicide attacks in Casablanca on May 16, which killed 45 people.

Salafia Jihadia preaches that Muslims should abide by the strict original precepts of Islam and Shari'ah law and is thus regarded as a fundamentalist movement.

Al-Qaeda sleeper cell

Moroccan daily newspaper Liberation has insinuated that Hafs had links to a Moroccan sleeper cell of the al-Qaeda terror network.

The court is expected to return a verdict against the three radical preachers on Thursday.

The devastating attacks in Casablanca were the first carried out in Morocco, which prides itself on its moderate form of Islam.

They caused outrage among the local population, and King Mohammed VI pledged such attacks would never be repeated in Morocco.

On August 19, handing down a verdict that observers said underscored the authorities' new tough stance against Islamic extremism, a court in Casablanca sentenced four Salafia Jihadia activists to death and dozens to heavy jail terms for the attacks.

Danish national Omar Maarouf was one of 10 members of Salafia Jihadia sentenced to death in Casablanca on July 12 for various murders and attacks prior to the Casablanca attacks.

Last week, French Islamic fundamentalist Pierre Robert was among 32 Salafia Jihadia activists found guilty of plotting attacks on a supermarket and casino in the northern Moroccan city of Tangiers, which if successful could have been even more devastating than the Casablanca attacks, according to the prosecutor.

Robert and two of his co-accused were sentenced to life in prison. The Frenchman is appealing the sentence.

- AFP