Terror attack: The Kingdom of Morocco will not be intimidated
Morocco, Local, 5/17/2003

A score of kamikazes perished in the attacks perpetrated Friday evening against targets in downtown Casablanca, Moroccan Interior Minister, El Mustapha Sahel, said.

The attacks were perpetrated by "groups of kamikazes" and a score of the twenty-four people killed in the attacks "would be suicide bombers," the Minister told the press. Three suspects of Moroccan nationality were arrested and one of the bombers, injured in the attacks, "is being interrogated by the police," the Minister added.

"The attacks bear the stamp of international terrorism," said Sahel, noting the concomitance of the attacks and their similarities. To a question on the identity of the bombers, the Minister said he did not have full details on the terrorists' identities yet. Twenty-four people were killed and some sixty others were injured in five attacks that targeted Safir Hotel, the Belgian consulate, an old Jewish cemetery, a club of the Jewish community, and a bomb exploded in the Casa Espana restaurant.

Meantime, "The Kingdom of Morocco will not be intimidated nor destabilized," Moroccan Interior Minister, El Mustapha Sahel, said today morning.

"The Kingdom of Morocco will neither be intimidated nor destabilized by those who seek today to attack the democratic and constitutional gains of our country," the Minister said in a statement to the press.

He stressed that Morocco will not be intimated either "by those who want to cast doubt on the values of pluralism, tolerance and overture, values for the defence of which all Moroccans are, today as they have always been, unified behind their king."

The Minister stressed that Moroccans "will be able to find proper answers to face those who chose to kill innocents to satisfy their criminal instincts and those behind them.

"His Majesty King Mohammed VI, who is permanently following the situation, decided to visit Casablanca (today)," he said.

The official assured the inhabitants of Casablanca, who were targeted by the attacks that "the authorities took all measures to ensure their security."

He further stressed that "the situation is totally under control and all measures were taken all over the territory to ensure order, calm and security in the face of these criminal acts."

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