Morocco 'no part' in bombings
2004-10-05 12:53
Madrid - Morocco and Spain have denied Spanish media reports that the Moroccan secret service may have been involved in the Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people on March 11, the dailies El Pais and El Mundo said on Tuesday.
Moroccan Deputy Foreign Minister Tayeb Fassi Fihri and Deputy
Interior Minister Fouad Ali Himma met with Spanish Prime Minister
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos and Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso on Monday.
The Moroccan officials brought a message from King Mohammed VI,
who asked Zapatero to help dispel false information. The deputy
ministers stressed that Rabat had helped Spain track down the train bombers.
Most of the nearly 20 suspects in custody are Moroccans.
Morocco could "count on the Spanish government to help dispel
these doubts", a Spanish foreign ministry spokesperson said.
The daily El Mundo had earlier asked whether the Moroccan secret
service had infiltrated al-Qaeda and instigated the Madrid attacks.
A book quoted by the daily claimed Mohammed VI made an
"ambiguous" remark about terrorism while relations between the two countries were deteriorating over a fishing dispute, illegal
immigration and disagreements about the Western Sahara conflict in 2000.
Several Spanish radio commentators have also hinted at Morocco's
possible involvement in the Madrid bombings.