[1]The Al-Qaeda terror network is suspected of involvement in a bomb attack on a popular tourist cafe that killed 15 people in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, the government said on Friday.
The Moroccan news agency, citing an official source, said that the death toll was 15, not 16 as previously stated, and it said the dead included ‘two Moroccans, two French nationals, two Canadians and a Dutch national.’
Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said that investigators would pursue all leads including possible links to Al-Qaeda, which operates a north African offshoot in the region.
"All leads will be investigated, including Al-Qaeda," he said.
"The investigation continues to find the perpetrators, but for the moment I am not prepared to point the finger."
The victims, mostly foreigners, died on Thursday when a suspected suicide bomb exploded at a tourist cafe in Djemaa el-Fna, the main square of Marrakesh.
A total of 23 others were badly injured, two of whom died overnight.
French intelligence and anti-terrorism experts will travel to Marrakesh on Friday to help in the probe, a Moroccan official source said, particularly the ‘identification of the bodies’.
International police agency Interpol condemned the attack and said it would ensure "the Moroccan authorities investigating this terrible attack have the full support of the global law enforcement community."
The blast was condemned as a terrorist attack by the Moroccan government, the European Union, the United States and France and a Moroccan official said it may have been the work of a suicide bomber.
Authorities in France said at least six of the dead were French while the Netherlands said a Dutchman had also died.
Israeli media reported that a 30-year-old pregnant Israeli woman and her husband, who was originally from Morocco, were among those killed.
Rabat, Washington and Paris condemned a ‘terrorist’ attack on the cafe, a favourite haunt for tourists in the city about 350 kilometres (220 miles) south of the capital.
Witnesses said the explosion happened on the terrace of the Argana cafe, whose facade and first floor were severely damaged, with tables and chairs strewn around the terrace.
Dutch tourist John Van Leeuwen said that he had looked the man believed responsible for the attack in the eyes moments before his bomb exploded.
"There were only tourists in the cafe, and three other Moroccans, and one guy that didn't initially look suspicious," Van Leeuwen told the media by telephone as he waited to catch a flight home with Marjolein Appel, 39.
"But after we found out it wasn't a gas explosion, my girlfriend and I, we looked at each other, and said that must have been him."
"There was an Arab man in the cafe, carrying two huge bags, including a backpack, that was an unusual sight, because it was about a metre (yard) high, and a second sports bag, also a very large bag."
Moroccan newspapers united in condemning the attack, coverage of which dominated front pages.
The latest attack was the deadliest in the North African monarchy since 33 people were killed by 12 suicide bombers in Casablanca in 2003. An attempted attack in 2007 was thwarted and one of three would-be bombers killed.
Moroccan Islamist movement Justice and Charity condemned the ‘barbaric’ attack and appealed to the authorities "not to repeat the human rights abuses" that followed the Casablanca attacks.
The February 20 Movement, named for a wave of pro-reform demonstrations in Morocco, presented "its condolences to the families of the victims and strongly condemns this criminal and ignoble act," in a statement published on Friday.
Morocco depends heavily on tourism, with around 9.4 million tourists visiting the country in 2010, two million of them French.
But there have been three protests since February to demand reform, prompting King Mohammed VI to announce major political changes, including greater judicial independence.
In mid-April, he pardoned political prisoners, including Islamists, in a gesture of appeasement.
Moroccan security forces have been deployed in the country in the wake of the blast.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has in the past been active in countries in the region, notably carrying out a series of kidnappings for ransom.
The United Nations, Britain, Germany, Spain and the Council of Europe human rights watchdog also condemned the attack.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague described it as "utterly reprehensible, and said alleged links to terrorism were worrying.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/marrakechafpjpgcropdisplayjpg-954